The European Union established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 is an economic and political union of 27 member states. Among other things, its competition policy is oriented towards the preservation of linguistic diversity and multilingualism and the creation of a strong, common European identity. The European Union considers all of its official languages as equal and working languages. It respects the linguistic, cultural and religious diversity of the citizens and makes steps to support and maintain it by e.g. adopting the European symbols (the anthem, the motto, the flag and Europe Day) and declaring 2008 as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID). Furthermore, it facilitates the use of mother tongues by EU citizens both in speaking and writing when they turn to the EU institutions. It also promotes the rights of regional and minority languages even if these languages are not official EU languages.