European Free Trade Association (EFTA)by team

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organisation set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland. Norway and Switzerland were among the founding Member States of EFTA in 1960. Iceland joined EFTA in 1970, followed by Liechtenstein in 1991. Norway, Iceland (from 1994) and Liechtenstein (from 1995) are also parties to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement with the European Union, while Switzerland has signed a set of bilateral agreements with the EU.

Participating Nations:

Iceland Liechtenstein Norway Switzerland

The European Economic Area (EEA)by team

The European Economic Area is a single market that provides for the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital through three of the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – and all 28 member states of the European Union (EU).

Participating Nations:

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Republic of Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden UK

European Union (EU)by team

The European Union is a politico-economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The EU operates through a system of supranational institutions and intergovernmental-negotiated decisions by the member states. The institutions are: the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, the Court of Auditors, and the European Parliament. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.

Participating Nations:

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

BENELUXby team

Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the BENELUX Economic Union treaty in February 1958 which came into force in November 1960 to last for 50 years and after the Rome Treaty. This union was to promote between them the ‘free movement of workers, capital, services and goods’ and predates by 26 years the Single European Act of 1986 which laid the basis of the European Single Market The Benelux Treaty was renewed in 2010.

Participating Nations:

Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg

European Council of Europe (CoE)by team

The Council of Europe (CoE) is an international organization promoting co-operation between European countries in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of lawand cultural co-operation.
It was founded in 1949 and has 47 member states with 820 million citizens.
The organization is an independent body, and is not controlled by the European Union, which is a separate organization it is sometimes confused with.
Unlike European Union and Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws.
Article 4 of the Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to any "European" State.
As a result, nearly all European states have acceded to the Council of Europe, with the exception of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Vatican City and some of the states with limited recognition.

Participating Nations:

Belgium Denmark France Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom Greece Turkey Iceland Germany Austria Cyprus Switzerland Malta Portugal Spain Liechtenstein San Marino Finland Hungary Poland Bulgaria Estonia Lithuania Slovenia Czech Republic Slovakia Romania Andorra Latvia Albania Moldova Macedonia Ukraine Russia Croatia Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia Monaco Montenegro

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)by team

The European Court of Human Rights is a supranationalor international court established by the European Convention on Human Rights. It hears applications alleging that a contracting state has breached one or more of the human rights provisions concerning civil and political rights set out in the Convention and its protocols. An application can be lodged by an individual, a group of individuals or one or more of the other contracting states, and, besides judgments, the Court can also issue advisory opinions. The Convention was adopted within the context of the Council of Europe, and all of its 47 member states are contracting parties to the Convention. The Court is based in Strasbourg, France.

Participating Nations:

Belgium Denmark France Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Sweden United Kingdom Greece Turkey Iceland Germany Austria Cyprus Switzerland Malta Portugal Spain Liechtenstein San Marino Finland Hungary Poland Bulgaria Estonia Lithuania Slovenia Czech Republic Slovakia Romania Andorra Latvia Albania Moldova Macedonia Ukraine Russia Croatia Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia Monaco Montenegro

The European Court of Justice (ECJ)by team

The European Court of Justice officially just the Court of Justice, is the highest court in the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application across all EU member states. The Court was established in 1952 and is based in Luxembourg. It is composed of one judge per member state – currently 28 – although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or thirteen judges. The court has been led by president Vassilios Skouris since 2003.

Participating Nations:

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

Schengen Areaby team

The Schengen Area is the area comprising 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their common borders, also referred to as internal borders. It mostly functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy. The Area is named after theSchengen Agreement. Countries in the Schengen Area have eliminated internal border controls with the other Schengen members, and strengthened external border controls with non-Schengen states. The Schengen area encourages the free movement of goods, information, money and people.

Twenty-two of the twenty-eight European Union (EU) member states participate in the Schengen Area. Of the six EU members that do not form part of the Schengen Area, four – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania – are legally obliged and wish to join the area, while the other two – Ireland and the United Kingdom – maintainopt-outs. All four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland – have signed the Schengen Agreement, even though they are outside the EU.

In addition threeEuropean microstates – Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican – can be considered as de facto within the Schengen Area as they do not have border controls with the Schengen countries that surround them; but they have not officially signed documents that make them part of Schengen. In many cases nations with non mainland territories are excluded or have special provisions.

Participating Nations:

Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)by team

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international economic organisation of 34 countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed todemocracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

Participating Nations:

Australia Austria Belgium Canada Chile Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Japan South Korea Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands NewZealand Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom United States