Today I'll be giving a brief overview of the European Union, including its historical and present-day functions. The European Union—more often known simply as the EU—is a unified political, legal and economic entity, currently comprising 28 member states. The EU arose out of trade agreements put in place after World War II, in the early 1950s, to promote peaceful stability and economic cooperation within Europe. Initially, there were just six participating countries: France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. Over the following decades, the early agreements were developed into a series of formalized treaties, drawing the member states into closer union. They defined new laws that would be applicable to all member states and established a shared economy. Since 2002, the EU has even adopted a common currency, the euro, but not all countries are required to use it. These days, although it has admitted many new member states in the intervening years, the European Union still functions in line with the principles upon which it was originally founded. Its primary goal is to guarantee the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within its territorial borders, but it also seeks to standardize elements of justice, citizens' rights and home affairs, and to encourage common policies on trade, industry, and development.