Understand the EU in under 30 minutes.
The basics in ten short videos.
Episode 1: Out of the Ruins
How coal and steel became the EU
Same money in Rome and Berlin, no visa for a semester in Vienna. Eighty years ago, nobody would have believed you.
Episode 2: Who decides what?
Parliament, Commission and the two councils
Council of the EU, European Council, Council of Europe. Three councils, almost the same name. Even adults mix them up all the time.
Episode 3: The Parliament
Who sits there, how it works and why it commutes
Twelve times a year, Parliament packs its boxes and moves from Brussels to Strasbourg. Why would anyone do that?
Episode 4: The Commission
Who picks it, what it does and who keeps it in check
Ursula von der Leyen has never been on the ballot in a European election. And yet she runs the Commission. How does that work?
Episode 5: The councils
And how 27 countries vote
One of the three councils isn't even part of the EU. That leaves two. And how do 27 countries agree on anything without arguing forever?
Episode 6: How an EU law is made
From proposal to Official Journal: the charging cable
Drawers full of charging cables, and none of them fit. Since the end of 2024, new phones in the EU need USB-C. How does a rule like that come about?
Episode 7: What can the EU do, and what not?
Competences, subsidiarity, regulations and directives
The EU decides how bent a cucumber can be? Sort of. What is true about the myth, and what the EU can really do.
Episode 8: The Court of Justice
How one footballer changed European football
A Belgian footballer wants to move to France, and his club blocks it. In the end, his case changes football across Europe.
Episode 9: The EU's money
Where it comes from, where it goes and who decides
A semester abroad, a cycle path in the village, money for a farm: often there is a sign with the EU flag. But where does the EU get its money?
Episode 10: Your vote
How you can have your say in the EU
In 2024, 16-year-olds in Germany could vote in the European elections for the first time. The next election is in 2029. Maybe you will be voting then.
Now go and see who votes how.
In the European Parliament, almost every important vote is recorded by name. On openrcv.eu you can see how your MEPs voted.
Open openrcv.eu