Region Spotlight
![The European Union](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EU-Flags-scaled-e1585067235220-751x1024.jpg)
The only union of its kind
The European Union
Growing from its start as the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Union today has twenty-seven member states and is the only democratic, intergovernmental, supranational organization in the world. It has risen as a key actor and norm-setter in areas as diverse as trade, energy security, digital policy, and defense. In an era of great power competition, the United States has a national interest in the EU reinvigorating faith in the European project among Europeans and the rest of the world.