The European Community (EC) /European Union (EU) has already had a history of nearly half a century since it was founded in 1957. As the starting point of the European integration process, it is only a newly-born phenomenon in some sense.

• 欧洲共同体(欧盟)自1957年成立以来，迄今已有近半个世纪的历史，仅就它才刚刚是欧洲一体化进程的起点而言，它还是个新生事物。