EUROPE DAY Europe Day is one of the symbols of the European Union Europe Day, which is celebrated on 9 May, is dedicated to celebrating peace and unity in Europe. At the same time, it marks the beginning of the establishment of the European Union as we know it today. On 9 May 1950, the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman called on European countries to join their coal and steel production. This association later became the present-day EU. France – the largest, Malta – the smallest 633,000 square kilometres is the area of France, the largest EU Member State. 135 square kilometres is the area of Malta, the smallest EU Member State. 1,450 people per square kilometre is population density in Malta, the most densely populated EU Member State. 18 people per square kilometre is population density in Finland, the least densely populated EU Member State. 103 people per square kilometre is population density in Slovenia, which ranks our country in the middle of EU-27 Member States. Germany has 160-times the population of Malta At the start of 2020, the population of EU-27 was 447.3 million. In 2020, Germany had the largest population (83.2 million) and Malta the smallest (0.5 million). With 2.1 million residents, Slovenia was among the smaller EU-27 Member States, as only Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta had fewer residents. Population in EU-27 Member States, 2020 15.0 mio. or more 10.0–14.9 mio. 5.0–9.9 mio. 1.0–4.9 mio. 0.9 mio. or less Source: Eurostat How long can we expect to live? According to provisional data for 2020, the difference between the highest (82.6 years in Malta) and the lowest (73.6 years in Bulgaria) life expectancies at birth in the EU-27 is nine years. Children born in Slovenia in 2020 can expect to live 80.6 years. Life expectancy at birth, EU-27, 2020 90 80 70 60 s 50 r a e y 40 30 20 10 0 MT ES IT SE FR CY FI LU DK NL AT GR DE PT BE SI EE CZ HR SK PO LV HU LT RO BG * Data is estimated and provisional. No data for Ireland. Source: Eurostat Important life milestones There are many milestones in a person’s life, e.g. leaving home, first job, marriage, children, etc. There are large differences in this regard among the EU-27 Member States. Young people in Sweden leave their parents’ households on average at 16 years (men at 16.1 years, women at 16.3 years). In Croatia, they leave their parents’ households on average 16 years later (men at 34.0 years and women at 30.9 years). In Slovenia, men decide to take this step on average at 28.6 years and women two years earlier at 26.3 years. Estimated average age of young people leaving the parental household by sex, EU-27, 2020 35 30 25 s 20 r a e y 15 10 5 0 I I R K G IT T T R S O O IE S U V Y Z 7 T T E L R E F E K U E H S B P M G E R P H L C C -2 L A B N F D E D L S U E men women Source: Eurostat GDP per capita the highest in Luxembourg EUR 101,640 was GDP per capita in 2020 in Luxembourg, the highest in the EU. EUR 8,750 was GDP per capita in 2020 in Bulgaria, the lowest in the EU. EUR 22,010 was GDP per capita in 2020 in Slovenia, which is about EUR 7,000 less than the EU-27 average. 35% more goods and services than EU-27 residents on average could be bought by residents of Luxembourg.1) 1) Actual individual consumption (AIC) per capita expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS). Unemployment the lowest in Czechia In 2019, i.e. before the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, the unemployment rate for the age group 15–74 in the EU-27 was 6.7% and thus the lowest in the past twenty years. In 2020, it was slightly higher at 7.1%. It was the highest in Greece (16.3%) and the lowest in Czechia (2.6%). In Slovenia, it was 5.0%. Six EU Member States had lower rates than Slovenia. Unemployment rate of persons aged 15-74, EU-27, 2020 20 15 % 10 5 0 I I L S IT T E V R F Y R 7 T E U K IE E K T G O S U T E L O Z E E L S L F C H -2 P E L S B D A B R H M D N P C U E Source: Eurostat.