Here is an overview of the European Union, one of the members of the Group of 20 attending the upcoming economic summit in Pittsburgh.

WHO IS THE LEADER FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION ATTENDING THE G-20 SUMMIT IN PITTSBURGH?

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, administrative arm of the European Union, plans to attend. The 53-year-old Social Democrat is the former prime minister of Portugal. He is generally considered an effective conciliator.

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE EU?

The 27 countries in the EU make up a political and economic partnership that involves free trade, labor mobility and a web of common regulations. Two of its Big Three, France and Germany, are now officially out of recession. Britain lags behind and is not likely to return to growth this year.

EU-wide unemployment is 8.9 percent, a four-year high. Spain has the highest unemployment at 18.5 percent. The Netherlands has the lowest rate: 3.4 percent.

Spain, the Florida of Europe, has paid the highest price for a recession that, like the crisis in the United States, began in its mortgage markets.

Germany's population has weathered the storm better, despite the increase in unemployment, and Berlin has taken action to mitigate the crisis: the Cash for Clunkers idea that worked in the U.S. originated in Germany. Local government working with banks and unions worked out flexible working hours that allowed more to stay employed part time.

The pace of job loss is not slackening in the British economy, however, which is structurally the most like America's economy.

WHAT IS THE GENERAL MAKEUP OF THE EU ECONOMY?

Though it might stretch the imagination of some American legislators and commentators, the European Union economy taken as a whole, at $18.4 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund, is larger than the U.S. economy. It is as varied as that of America's. Heavy industry is concentrated in the core countries: Germany, BeNeLux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg), France and the U.K.

Italy and France are the world's leading manufacturers of luxury goods.

The EU has a trade surplus with the U.S. (who doesn't?) worth more than $114 million. In the years immediately preceding the crash a third of the world's trade in goods and more than 40 percent of trade in services was between the U.S. and the EU. The EU has a trade deficit with China (who doesn't?) worth $241 million. Last year direct investment in China from EU member states totaled $5.9 billion

WHAT IS MR. BARROSO HOPING TO GET OUT OF THE G-20 SUMMIT?

The EU will continue to press for closer scrutiny of banker pay and bonuses. But practically, Mr. Barroso speaks for no one. The EU, via the EC, negotiates trade issues on behalf of its members and it is very effective at doing so -- just ask any American trade negotiator who has taken a dispute with Europe to the WTO. But on foreign and defense policy, the EU countries speak for themselves.

While the EU's largest economies will have their own representatives at the G-20, other members states -- some of whom were not included in the G-20 in favor of some developing economies that for now have smaller economies -- are relying on Mr. Barroso to push their agenda.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD WE KNOW ABOUT THE EU'S CURRENT POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION AS THE SUMMIT APPROACHES?

As EU members tentatively emerge from recession, they face a year of political change. After the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces voters. She is expected to retain power, but her coalition partners are likely to change. British voters go to polls next spring and are expected to throw Gordon Brown's Labor Party out of office. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is also in political hot water. French President Nicolas Sarkozy doesn't face the electorate for another couple of years. That puts him in a strong position at this meeting to push his pet issue: severe caps on bankers' bonuses and tight regulations on all financial market speculation.

The EU is also looking ahead to the December Copenhagen Climate Conference. EU leaders hope the G-20 environmental talks will pave the way toward commitments to finance the fight against climate change.