The European Union (EU) is unique. It is not a federal state like the United States of America because its Member States remain independent sovereign nations. Nor is it a purely intergovernmental organisation like the United Nations because the Member States do pool some of their sovereignty — and thus gain much greater collective strength and influence than they could have acting individually. They pool their sovereignty by taking joint decisions through shared institutions such as the European Parliament, which is elected by the EU citizens, and the European Council and the Council, which both represent national governments. They decide on the basis of proposals from the European Commission, which represent the interests of the EU as a whole. Text taken from Europa.eu

Getting Started with the European Union

All You Need To Know about the European Union (video below)

The European Idea – Council on Foreign Relations (video below)

Key European Institutions

The Council Presidency (video below)

The European Commission (video below)

The Building Blocks of the European Parliament (video below)

European Parliament Committees (video below)

All EU Institutions

Managing the European Economy

What Does the European Central Bank Do and How Does it Operate?

Democracy in the EU

European Democracy and the Language Question (video below)

Rights of Europeans

The European Court of Human Rights

EU World Politics

The EU Global Strategy

The 2015-2019 EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy

Out with the old, in with the new? A brief look at the 2015-2019 EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy

The European External Action Service (EEAS)

EU Security

EU Common Security and Defence in Action (video below)

Common Defence Policy: Can European Armies Unite? – Talking Europe (video below)

The European Institute for Security Studies

Who’s in, Who’s out – Borders and the EU

Frontex – The European Border and Coast Guard Agency

Mapping the Limits of Freedom: EU Borders – Didier Bigo and Elspeth Guild (video below)

Transparent EU

Official Documents

EU Live

EuropartTV – Debates in Livestreams

Schedule for Upcoming Livestreams

Further Reading on E-International Relations

• Online Resources – Union for the Mediterranean
• Online Resources – The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Online Resources – The Council of Europe
• Online Resources – Mercosur
• Online Resources – Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
• Online Resources – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries