system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: The European Union - what does it do and how does it work?
gpt
The European Union is a group of countries that think it would be better for them if they treated eachother in way that isn't *that* different to how the states work in the US.

This means that many European countries use the same kind of money because it makes buying things from eachother easier.

Also, citizens from these countries are allowed to move between them very easily and work in them with very little paperwork. So moving from France to work in Germany is no more difficult than moving from California to Utah, whereas without the European Union it could have been as difficult as moving from the US to Australia.

The EU also helps out its members if they fall on hard times, and often makes some member countries feel ripped off because they are being made to support someone that they think doesn't deserve it, or to give away more money than they want to.

In a nutshell, it's a group of countries that trust eachother enough to have open borders to members and a "we got your back" attitude.