European Union Flag

The European Union consists of the following 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

The European Union members implement common policies related to the free movement of people, goods, services and capital.

The Council of Europe is different from the European Union in that its purpose is to uphold human rights, democracy and "rule of law" in Europe. There are 47 member states.

The flag shown above has been adopted and used by both organizations. The twelve golden stars represent the unity of Europe.