History UsefulNotes / TheEuropeanUnion

* The High Representative -- kind of a foreign minister, the person [[ChekhovsGunman Mr. Kissinger]] should call. Has declined in importance with each new successive Commission[[note]]In the Barroso Commission the High Representative was second-ranked behind only the President; in the Juncker Commission she was third-ranked; presently he is fourth-ranked[[/note]]. Currently held by Josep Borrell of Spain.

The EU's institutional structure is pretty complex, but its main bodies are the European Commission (nominated by the national governments and confirmed by the European Parliament, they draw up the policy and initiate legislation), the European Council (who are the heads of government of the 27 member states; they negotiate treaties and set broad goals), the Council of Ministers (made up of the ministers from each member state, they meet in policy-related groups, and are responsible for examining and making decisions on Commission proposals), the elected European Parliament (who pass, amend or reject proposed legislation along with the Council of Ministers, and do investigations) and the European Court of Justice (who can strike down national laws contrary to EU treaties and law). Which institutions take priority in decision making depends on the policy area, for example, in competition policy the Commission is influential, whereas in foreign policy the member states are the main actors. There was somewhat of a problem with working out who precisely is in charge, as Henry Kissinger (he's still alive, surprisingly) once commented.

* UsefulNotes/TheCzechRepublic -- also a 2004 entry. Formerly CommieLand, when it was part of Czechoslovakia. Prefers to think of itself as "Central Europe" than "Eastern Europe". Literary greats Creator/FranzKafka, Milan Kundera, and Václav Havel (who became the country's first president) are from here, although Kafka might have looked at you funny if you had called him Czech (he was a German-speaking Jew). Mostly famous for its beautiful capital, Prague.

* UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} -- The one everybody owes money to. Being the most populous country in Europe (not counting Russia), it's diverse enough to have two separate tropes dedicated to it -- {{Oktoberfest}} and UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} (which has largely merged into the former). The [[UsefulNotes/WestGermany Western part]] was a founder member of the EU, the [[UsefulNotes/EastGermany Eastern part]] automatically joined on reunification, since it no longer existed. It had a [[UsefulNotes/AngelaMerkel female Chancellor]] (complete with PowerHair and a MemeticHandGesture) and until recently used conscription. Obsessed with high inflation (the German word for debt is "guilt") and very keen on austerity measures.

* UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} -- The one everybody owes money to. Being the most populous country in Europe (not counting Russia), it's diverse enough to have two separate tropes dedicated to it -- {{Oktoberfest}} and UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} (which has largely merged into the former). The [[UsefulNotes/WestGermany Western part]] was a founder member of the EU, the [[UsefulNotes/EastGermany Eastern part]] automatically joined on reunification, since it no longer existed. It has a [[UsefulNotes/AngelaMerkel female Chancellor]] (complete with PowerHair and a MemeticHandGesture) and until recently used conscription. Obsessed with high inflation (the German word for debt is "guilt") and very keen on austerity measures.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Sidestory ''Anime/CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled'' focus heavily on the EU. [[spoiler:It sadly fell to the Holy Britannian Empire in the main series ''Anime/CodeGeass''.]].

[[folder: Fanfiction]]

* Crops up quite often in ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' fics, although it rarely gets a character of its own. One notable use of it is in the fanfiction ''[[http://hetalia-kink.livejournal.com/15769.html?thread=41560217#t41560217 Margins]]'', an AU in which Nations are physically barred from crossing their borders unless they in some way belong to another country (in which case they can go anywhere within that country's borders as well). [[spoiler:The EU's formation at the end provides some of the most far-reaching freedom the Nations get and is represented by a cute little brown-haired girl that Belgium and Austria find.]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* King Europe, who seems to be the EU, appears as a character in Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld.

[[folder: Real Life, To A Given Value Of "Real" ]]

* UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories: for a long time, while the EU only had twelve members, paranoid Americans of a fundamentalist religious bent considered this to be the Satanic conspiracy represented in the Book of Revelation by the twelve-headed monster emerging from the sea, which would be the Anti-Christ's most loyal supporter. The emergence of the EU was thus a God-given sign, for those with eyes to see, of the Armageddon and the End of Days. This theological nuance has gone out of fashion somewhat after the EU gradually expanded to twenty-eight members.
** Others claim that it will be the last and final kingdom to rise and fall before the Kingdom of God in the End Times Prophecy - the EU is apparently a resurrected Roman Empire. Whilst some Eurofederalists have suggested incorporating Turkey and the North African nations into the EU (which would, like the Roman Empire make the entire Mediterranean enclosed by the EU), and still others have suggested moving the capital from Brussels to Rome, these are generally fringe or far-future positions.
** A cynical observer would note that most of the Americans making these rather loopy prophecies are A: far-right Dominionists, and B: Protestant, which makes it natural that they might ascribe Satanic characteristics to a left-liberal (by American standards) confederation which includes many Catholics.

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* UsefulNotes/{{Finland}} -- joined in 1995 and is frequently rated as one of the best countries in the world to live. Depicted as NorseByNorsewest, but maintains that it belongs to a different cultural tradition. The distinguishing characteristics of its own one are snow, alcohol and self-pity. Has a national inferiority complex, uses being full of rocks, trees and water as its main attraction, is relatively large and sparsely populated, too damn cold and too damn dark; is thus the local equivalent of Canada. Every one of its residents may or may not be [[Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld switchblade-carrying black magicians according to the Danes]]. Famous exports include metal bands by the bucketful, including but not limited to Music/{{Lordi}}, Music/{{Nightwish}}, and Music/SonataArctica. Notable contributions to the world include the MolotovCocktail, the SaunaOfDeath, several great racing drivers, and [[UsefulNotes/SimoHayha history's most deadly sniper ever]]. Also, electronics and computer technology--[=MySQL=], IRC, and Linux were all developed by Finns, and it's also the birthplace of cell phone company Nokia. [[Theatre/{{Spamalot}} That's the country for me!]]

* UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} -- one of the founder members. The most famous Belgian is a [[Literature/HerculePoirot fictional detective]], although a couple of real tennis players[[note]]Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters[[/note]], a real cyclist[[note]]Eddy Merckx[[/note]] and a rather nasty long-dead colonial king[[note]]Leopold II, notorious for his highly exploitative rule over the Congo Free State, now DR Congo[[/note]] come close. Also home (along with France) to [[FrancoBelgianComics a comics industry]] that has found widespread success abroad. ''{{Tintin}}'' is probably the most prominent of these. Became a swear word in ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', which was co-opted by ''Series/{{Neighbours}}'' of all shows. Famous for its chocolate, waffles and beer. Has a university library that got burnt down in both World Wars and got rebuilt both times.

* UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} -- The one everybody owes money to. Being the most populous country in Europe (not counting Russia), it's diverse enough to have two separate tropes dedicated to it -- {{Oktoberfest}} and UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} (which has largely merged into the former). The [[UsefulNotes/WestGermany Western part]] was a founder member of the EU, the [[UsefulNotes/EastGermany Eastern part]] automatically joined on reunification, since it no longer existed. It has a [[UsefulNotes/AngelaMerkel female Chancellor]] (complete with PowerHair and a MemeticHandGesture) and [[strike:still uses]] until recently used conscription. Obsessed with high inflation (the German word for debt is "guilt") and very keen on austerity measures.

[[folder: Fan Fiction ]]

* Crops up quite often in Axis Powers Hetalia fics, although it rarely gets a character of its own. One notable use of it is in the fanfiction ''[[http://hetalia-kink.livejournal.com/15769.html?thread=41560217#t41560217 Margins]]'', an AU in which Nations are physically barred from crossing their borders unless they in some way belong to another country (in which case they can go anywhere within that country's borders as well). [[spoiler:The EU's formation at the end provides some of the most far-reaching freedom the Nations get and is represented by a cute little brown-haired girl that Belgium and Austria find.]]

In 2010 UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} decided to [[StartMyOwn start its own]] trade union in the form of the Customs Union, hoping to rival the EU. It began with just Russia, UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} as members, but started to raise the EU's ire after luring UsefulNotes/{{Armenia}} to join it in 2013 when the country would otherwise have had a free-trade deal with the EU (apparently it's incredibly difficult, but maybe not impossible, to have ties with both trade unions). Attempts to draw UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} into this union seem to have rather decisively died after their pro-Russian president was overthrown in a revolution and Russia responded by annexing the Ukrainian province of Crimea. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, President UsefulNotes/VolodymyrZelenskyy called for an immediate integration of the country in the EU (which is easier to say than to do).

In 2010 UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} decided to [[StartMyOwn start its own]] trade union in the form of the Customs Union, hoping to rival the EU. It began with just Russia, UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} as members, but started to raise the EU's ire after luring UsefulNotes/{{Armenia }}to join it in 2013 when the country would otherwise have had a free-trade deal with the EU (apparently it's incredibly difficult, but maybe not impossible, to have ties with both trade unions). Attempts to draw UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} into this union seem to have rather decisively died after their pro-Russian president was overthrown in a revolution and Russia responded by annexing the Ukrainian province of Crimea. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, President UsefulNotes/VolodymyrZelenskyy called for an immediate integration of the country in the EU (which is easier to say than to do).

In 2010 UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} decided to [[StartMyOwn start its own]] trade union in the form of the Customs Union, hoping to rival the EU. It began with just Russia, UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} as members, but started to raise the EU's ire after luring UsefulNotes/{{Armenia }}to join it in 2013 when the country would otherwise have had a free-trade deal with the EU (apparently it's incredibly difficult, but maybe not impossible, to have ties with both trade unions). Attempts to draw UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} into this union seem to have rather decisively died after their pro-Russian president was overthrown in a revolution and Russia responded by annexing the Ukrainian province of Crimea. When Russia invaded Ukraine, President UsefulNotes/VolodymyrZelenskyy called for an immediate integration of the country in the EU (which is easier to say than to do).