1. Europe Day

3. Top 12 facts

4. 1 fact
The European flag is the symbol not only of the EU, but of the European unity and identity in a broader sense. Although, throughout its history, the EU had 12 member states as the number of stars in the flag (from 1986 to 1995), there is however no direct connection between the number of stars and the number of countries: it is only commonly thought that the number 12 symbolizes perfection and unity. Therefore, the flag will remain unchanged despite future EU enlargement.

5. 2 fact
The European anthem is "Ode to Joy" taken from the Ninth Symphony of the famous German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven who composed it in 1823, four years before his death, adding the lyrics of Friedrich Schiller of This musical poem expresses Schiller's idealistic vision of humankind where all men are brothers - a vision that was shared by Beethoven himself.

6. 3 fact
The Europe Day is celebrated on 9 May. On this day, in 1950, the foundations of a unified community of nations and peoples, which we know today as the European Union, were set: the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman gave a public speech to Europe and to all countries. He proposed to create a supranational European institution (later called European Commission) that would manage the coal and steel industries - industries during the two world wars had been the core of the German defense industry.

7. 4 fact
The European motto is "United in diversity".

8. 5 fact
The European Union was first created by the six founding states, such as Belgium, France, West Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy. Then, some state continue to join at the union till the current is 28 member of states.

9. 6 fact
Brussels (Belgium) is the capital of the European Union.

10. 7 fact
The European Union has 23 official languages. The European Parliament (and the European Commission) is the world’s largest employer of interpreters and translators.

11. 8 fact
The EU maintains four administrative bodies dealing with specific areas of economic and political activity: Council of Ministers, European Commission, European Parliament, Court of Justice.

12. 9 fact
The meetings of the European Commission are held every week, on Wednesdays, in Brussels. During the plenary session of the European Parliament, their meetings are normally held in Strasbourg.

13. 10 fact Robert Schuman was the first President
of the European Parliament.

14. 11 fact
The European Parliament elections are held every 5 years. Voting for the European Parliament elections is compulsory for the people in Belgium, Greece, Cyprus and Luxembourg.

15. 12 fact
The European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.