EU nowadays

First of all, I`m going to talk about that, how EU looks and works nowadays. I will tell you about EU symbols, main
institutions and bodies of it and our rights which are protected by this organization.

Now EU consists of 28 member states and it has 23 official languages. The last country which joined EU in 2013 was
Croatia, but there are more countries seeking to join this organization too. Lithuania became the member of EU in 2004.

So what are the main symbols of EU and how we can distinguish it from other international organizations? It is best
recognizable by its most well-known flag - the circle of yellow stars on a blue background. It symbolizes the ideals of
unity (vienybe), solidarity and harmony among the people of Europe. We celebrate Europe day on May 9th, because the
ideas behind the European Union were first put forward on this day in 1950 by French foreign minister Robert Schuman.
The EU motto - "United in diversity". It signifies how Europeans have come together, in the form of the EU, to work for
peace and prosperity (gerove), while at the same time being enriched by the continents many different cultures, traditions
and languages.

Another thing I would like to look through is the main EU institutions and bodies. There are 4 of them:

European Council , the EU's broad priorities are set by this institution, which brings together national and EU-
level leaders
The European Parliament which represents European citizens. Members to this institution are directly elected in
countries by their residents.
the interests of the EU as a whole are promoted by the European Commission, whose members are appointed by
national governments
Governments defend their own country's national interests in the Council of the European Union. The Presidency
of the Council is shared by the member states on a rotating basis.

And the last but definitely not the least thing is human rights, which are protected by EU. I think exactly this aspect
reflects the democracy of EU. So this organization guarantees protection for:

Political rights (Voting in European elections, voting in municipal elections, Accessing European government
documents, Linguistic rights)
Right to free movement and residence
Freedom from discrimination on nationality
Right to consular protection (a right to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of other Member
States when in a non-EU Member State, if there are no diplomatic or consular authorities from the citizen's own
state)
Also social, cultural, civil, economic rights

All the rights I mentioned are established in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights that was drafted on December 7 in
2000.

Some interesting facts

The Norwegian Nobel Committee unanimously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU last year. Norway is not
an EU member
In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon made it possible for the first time for a country to leave the EU
Wales has eight per cent of the sheep in the EU
The EU annually imports more than 6,000 tonnes of frogs legs from Asia

So, to sum up I would like to say my attitude to this organization we talked about. I think it is one of the most democratic
organizations, because it represents its citizens, protect the main human rights, decrease discrimination between various
nations and unites different countries with their own cultures, languages and traditions.