European Union (Fallout Supplement)

A loose collection of European tribes, this organization is dedicated to strengthening the economic power of its constituent governments.

History

Tracing its origins to the 1940's, the European Union originally began as an economic cooperative. Eventually, the Union was considered nearly a single country, with a higher GDP than any other. Members were even operating under a single currency. Unfortunately, like all other countries during the Great War, the Union was nearly destroyed in the nuclear holocaust.

In 2125, Pre-War European countries were begining to reestablish themselves. Spain emerged as an economic and technological powerhouse, and was the first country to move to reform the European Union. Most of the tribes were willing to join, though several dissenting groups (largely to the east) vehemently opposed unifying under a single government.

The Coalition Separatists

As the European Union formed, only a few tribes refused to join, on grounds that the Union simply wasn't dedicated to bettering the lot of the poor. Soon, economic sanctions on these tribes made life nearly impossible. Despite the tribes' unification into the "Eastern Bloc", they simply could not survive without the supplies available to EU tribes. The winter of 2148 was the breaking point for many of the tribes. In 2148, the already brutal eastern winter began weeks before appropriate food stores were ready. While most of the tribes finally joined the EU for relief, Belukr tribe (located on the border of former Belarus and Ukraine) made the decision to push north-east, towards Pre-War Moscow.

There, the tribe found Vaults complete with enough supplies, technology and people for them to be completely independent from the Union. Many other tribes began to flock to Moscow, including a number that defected from the EU. The Reborn Coalition of Soviet Nations was born.

While the EU didn't attempt to attack the early RCSN, the Union did do its best to win back any defecting tribes. Soon, the Union offered even greater benefits for member tribes, and included a number of incentives for tribes to defect from the Coalition. Likewise, the Coalition began offering its own rewards to tribes that joined. To the current day, the two tribes are still in competition for member-states, and relations are quite strained. While trade is scarce between the two tribes, war has not broken out amongst them. Yet.

The African Expeditions

In 2255, the exodus of the Belukr tribe and rising strength of the Coalition inspired the southernmost Union tribes of France to expand their own territory by exploring northern Africa. The EU quite gladly agreed to fund the expedition, expecting that Africa must be suffering a great deal from the post-war climate changes, and would be easy to annex. As expected, the climate and soil of the north African territory made agriculture virtually impossible without a great deal of technology. However, the area was surprisingly well populated with a variety of tribes. Even more surprising, these tribes had access to technology that had not been available to Africa, even before the Great War. The worst news, as far as the Union was concerned, was that these tribes had no desire to be annexed.

Questioning quickly revealed the technology had been disseminated by a benefactor known as the People's Republic of Asia, which had established an outpost along the Arabian Peninsula. Over the next few months, the expedition team made its way further east. As they traveled, they continued to encounter the same situation: tribes living off the land, with little desire to have any more than what they had. Having found no unoccupied or annexable territory, the expedition was forced to return with the unexpected tales of Africa.

Principles

The European Union is not as coherent as groups such as the NCR or Caesar's Legion. However, what it lacks in unity, it more than compensates with power.

• The European Union is a collection of soveriegn states, each of which maintains its own army
• Members of the Union agree to a set of rules that each follows, such as no allowing slavery and cracking down on illegal chems
• While members of the Union are largely independent, tribes must seek the support of other members before launching wars on nonmembers
• Citizens of individual tribes may freely travel through other Union territories
• Trading caravans which are associated with one member of the Union are exempt from certain taxes and travel restrictions

Important People

Alexander Bruce

Gender: Male

Species: Human

Class: Smart, Techie

Role: EU Representative, Technical Expert

Alexander Bruce is the European Union Representative for Lahoc, a small tribe located near the former Large Hadron Collider. What they lack in numbers, Lahoc makes up for it in technical expertise. In exchange for rare scientific components, Lahoc helps the EU repair various Pre-War devices. Bruce was elected as the EU representative so that Lahoc may eventually realize it's goal of repairing the Large Hadron Collider. Bruce has come to suspect that the last necessary components are in the former United States, and has been steadily convincing the EU to send an expedition there.

Douglas Lombardi

Gender: Male

Species: Ghoul

Class: Dedicated, Personality

Role: EU Representative, Artist

Douglas Lombardi is the Louvre's representative to the EU. While the Louvre has few practical services to offer the EU, its art is highly regarded and thus the Louvre is an EU protectorate. Lombardi has long had the dream to explore the wastelands, looking for lost pieces of art and literature. However, he has had a difficult time convincing the Union to fund an expedition for recovering seemingly useless artifacts. Lately, he has begun looking to mercenaries, promising all rights to salvaged equipment and technology to any who will guide him and other artists through eastern Europe, Nothern Africa, and even as far as Asia.

Technology

By far the most advanced of any of the major tribes, the European Union has access to significant amounts of energy weapons and robotics. While power armor is a rarity in Union territory, virtually every other piece of advanced technology can be found. While the European Union does conduct research on the creation of new technology, little headway has been made.

Relationships

While the Legion has yet to contact any of the other major tribes, here is a relatively good prediction of how it will relate to others:

• Music Appreciation Society: The Music Appreciation Society has similar goals to the Union, and the two maintain an amicable relationship. The physical distance between the two nations makes close interaction almost impossible, though.

• New California Republic: The NCR and EU are on relatively good trading terms, though the lack of access between these nations has made the relationship a distant one at best.

• Caesar's Legion: The Legion is too occupied with its fortifications and plots against the NCR and MApS to have had much contact off of the continent. While it has been slowly pushing too the east coast of North America, it simply will not spare the forces required to contact or fight off continent. This being said, the Legion is almost entirely opposed to any governance style other than its own, and has no more patience for the Eurasian tribes than the North American ones.

• People's Republic of Asia: The Pre-War history between the two regions has made relationships difficult. Furthermore, the PRA's influence in northern Africa has made it difficult for the EU to appeal to the African tribes, which may lead to conflict.

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