"INSTITUTIONS
Important institutions of the EU: - the European Parliament
- the Council of the European Union
- the European Comission
- the European Court of Justice
- the European Central Bank
The European Parliament (785 members)
Basic role is to legislate and control.
Seat of the European Parliament is in Strasbourg and Brussels.

The Council of the EU (27 members)
The representatives of EU Member States meet to legislate, co-ordinate the policies and make political decisions.

The European Commission (27 members)
- driving force and executive body
The European Commission makes legislate proposals and manages the EU´s money.

The European Court of Justice (27 judges)
The European Court of Justice make sure that EU law is applied and interpreted in the same way in all Member states.

The European Central Bank
The ECB is the local Central banks of the 25 member-states of the European Union.
One of the ECB’s main tasks is to maintain price stability in the euro area. The ECB aims to ensure that the year-on-year increase in consumer prices is less than 2%.

SYMBOLS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
FLAG
= twelve golden stars on a background of blue sky, the stars are in a circle and they represent the union of the peoples of Europe
- the twelve stars in a circle symbolise the ideals of unity, soldarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe

ANTHEM
- the European Union anthem is the final part of the Ode to Joy from Beethoven´s Ninth Symphony

EUROPE DAY
- Europe day is celebrated on 9 May, because on 9 may 1950 Robert Schuman, a French minister of foreign affairs, made the ,,Schuman Declaration” and proposed creating a new organisation of European states

EURO
- the euro is the name of the European money
- from 1 January 2002, 13 of the European Union countries use euro notes and coins, it means that you can pay with the same notes and coins everywhere in the euro zone
- euro makes it easier to travel and do business, and to compare prices"