The European Union: the facts – and some fictions

The European Economic Community was formed through the Treaty of Rome in 1957, though the UK did not join until 1973. The founder members were France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The French president Charles de Gaulle on why he vetoed UK membership of the European Economic Community in 1963: "England, in effect, is insular. She is maritime. She is linked through her exchanges, her markets, her supply lines to the most distant countries. She pursues essentially industrial and commercial activities and only slightly agricultural ones. She has, in all her doings, very marked and very original habits and traditions. In short, England's nature, England's structure, England's very situation differs profoundly from those of the Continentals."

In October 2004, the 25 member states agreed to establish a European constitution, perhaps the most controversial move since 11 of the member countries joined the single currency – the euro – on 1 January 1999.

The European Parliament election takes place between

4 and 7 June. An estimated 375m people from 27 countries are eligible to vote. In the UK, voting is on 4 June: there are 12 regional constituencies, which return three-to-10 MEPs. The Conservatives won the last Euro election, polling 26.72 per cent and taking 27 seats to Labour's 19.

The EU had a gross domestic product (GDP) of €13trn (£11.4trn) in 2008 – nearly one-third of world GDP – according to the International Monetary Fund. As a result of the credit crunch, this is projected to shrink to €10.9trn this year.

The European Commission announced plans last week to create three bodies that will take control of the bloc's financial regulation. The European Banking Authority, the European Insurance Authority and the European Securities Authority will be based in London, Frankfurt and Paris respectively. Their decisions will be imposed on member states.

There have been so many scare stories about the European Union and its "plans" to wreck the British way of life that the Commission has dedicated a section of its website to debunking what it terms "Euromyths". Here are some of the best:

"Hands off our barmaids' boobs: The EU has declared a crackpot war on busty barmaids – by trying to ban them from wearing low-cut tops. Po-faced penpushers have deemed it a health hazard for bar girls to show too much cleavage."

The Sun, August 2005.

Commission's response: "New EU rules on optical radiation do not tell people what they can wear. They instead require bosses to assess the risk of skin and retina damage for employees who work in the sun all day."

"Brit yoghurt – EU says we have to call it Fermented Milk Pudding: British yoghurt will be renamed "fermented milk pudding" – if Brussels has its way. Under plans being discussed by EU officials, only yoghurts made using the sour-tasting bacteria according to traditional Bulgarian recipes will be called "yoghurt". Sunday Mirror, March 2006 Commission's response: "There are no plans to rename yoghurt as heat fermented milk pudding."

"EU wet land ban on combines branded 'stupid' by NFU peer: European law which bans farmers from using their combine harvesters on wet soil has been criticised by prominent members of the House of Lords."

Yorkshire Post, October 2008. Commission's response: "Contrary to what the Yorkshire Post reported, Brussels has no rules on whether combine harvesters can be used on wet soil."