Organization of most of the states of western Europe, formed in 1993, to oversee their economic and political integration.
It was created by the Maastricht Treaty and ratified by all members of the euro , which replaced the national currencies of 12 of the 15 EU members in 2002. Its principal institutions are the European Community, the Council of Ministers (its forum for individual ministries), the European Commission (its administrative bureaucracy), the European Parliament , the European Court of Justice , and the European Central Bank.