Italy was a founding member of the European Community in 1967. In November 1993 the European Community transformed itself into the European Union. The valley of Livigno in the Italian Alps is outside the EU's fiscal and customs union, so the inhabitants of Livigno don't pay customs to the EU, and they don't contribute to Italian payments to the EU budget through VAT and excise duties. They contribute only through Italian direct taxes. Although the Valley of Aosta was supposed to gain similar privilege and is defined as "zona franca" (duty free area) under its constitution, it has so far failed to put its statute into practice.