2018-07-04 Wed

A €1.35 stamp was released by Austria on 8th June to commemorate its presidency of the European Union, which started on 1st July and will end shortly on 1st January 2019.

The stamp features a map of the European Union with a gold-coloured outline. The map of Austria is depicted in its national colors of red and white. 12 stars of the European Union are also included in the design.

The stamps were designed by Marion Fullerer and were printed by offset in sheets of 50 by Joh. Enschede of the Netherlands. A total of 240,000 such stamps have been printed.

The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states from Europe that follows a standardized system of laws to establish an internal single market. The idea of EU has its roots in the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC) that were established by the 1951 Treaty of Paris and 1957 Treaty of Rome respectively. Free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the internal market os one of the important policies offered by the EU. Euro is the common currency adopted by all the member states.

Image Courtesy: Austria post