Member State of the European Union

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A Member State of the European Union is any one of the twenty-seven nation states that have acceded the European Union (EU) since its de facto inception in 1958 as the European Economic Community (EEC). From an original membership of six states, there have been six successive enlargements, the largest occurring on 1 May 2004, when ten member states joined. The EU is currently composed of twenty republics, six kingdoms and one grand duchy.

Following the addition of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007, the EU's membership now stands at twenty-seven. Negotiations are also under way with a number of other states. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration. However, this term is also used to refer to the intensification of cooperation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual centralising of power within European institutions. Before being allowed to join the European Union, a state must fulfil the economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhagen criteria: these basically require that a candidate member state must enjoy a secular, democratic system of government, together with the corresponding freedoms and institutions, and respect the rule of law. Under the terms of the Treaty on European Union, enlargement of the Union is conditional upon the agreement of each existing member state as well as approval by the European Parliament.

Bulgaria and Romania comprise the second part of the EU's fifth enlargement, and joined the EU on 1 January 2007. This date was agreed upon at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003, confirmed at Brussels on 18 June 2004, and affirmed by the country reports of October 2004 and the final report delivered on 26 September 2006. Bulgaria and Romania signed their Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005 at a ceremony held at Neumünster Abbey in Luxembourg.

[edit] List

Flag
 CoA
 Short name
 Official name
 Accession
 Population
 Area (km²)
 Capital
 MEPs
 ccTLD
Flag of Austria
Austria Republic of Austria 01995-01-01 1 January 1995 &0000000008199783.0000008,199,783 &0000000000083871.00000083,871 Vienna 18 .at
Flag of Belgium
Belgium Kingdom of Belgium 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 &0000000010392226.00000010,392,226 &0000000000030528.00000030,528 Brussels 24 .be
Flag of Bulgaria
Bulgaria Republic of Bulgaria 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 &0000000007322858.0000007,322,858 &0000000000110910.000000110,910 Sofia 18 .bg
Flag of Cyprus
Cyprus Republic of Cyprus 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000000766400.000000766,400 &0000000000009251.0000009,251 Nicosia 6 .cy
Flag of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic Czech Republic 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000010306709.00000010,306,709 &0000000000078866.00000078,866 Prague 24 .cz
Flag of Denmark
Denmark Kingdom of Denmark 01973-01-01 1 January 1973¹ &0000000005457415.0000005,457,415 &0000000000043094.00000043,094 Copenhagen 14 .dk
Flag of Estonia
Estonia Republic of Estonia 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000001342409.0000001,342,409 &0000000000045226.00000045,226 Tallinn 6 .ee
Flag of Finland
Finland Republic of Finland 01995-01-01 1 January 1995 &0000000005289128.0000005,289,128 &0000000000338145.000000338,145 Helsinki 14 .fi
Flag of France
France French Republic 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 &0000000063392140.00000063,392,140 &0000000000674843.000000674,843 Paris 78 .fr
Flag of Germany
Germany Federal Republic of Germany 01957-03-25 25 March 1957² &0000000082314906.00000082,314,906 &0000000000357050.000000357,050 Berlin 99 .de
Flag of Greece
Greece Hellenic Republic 01981-01-01 1 January 1981 &0000000011125179.00000011,125,179 &0000000000131990.000000131,990 Athens 24 .gr
Flag of Hungary
Hungary Republic of Hungary 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000010066158.00000010,066,158 &0000000000093030.00000093,030 Budapest 24 .hu
Flag of Ireland
Ireland Ireland³ 01973-01-01 1 January 1973 &0000000004239848.0000004,239,848 &0000000000070273.00000070,273 Dublin 13 .ie
Flag of Italy
Italy Italian Republic 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 &0000000059131287.00000059,131,287 &0000000000301318.000000301,318 Rome 78 .it
Flag of Latvia
Latvia Republic of Latvia 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000002281305.0000002,281,305 &0000000000064589.00000064,589 Riga 9 .lv
Flag of Lithuania
Lithuania Republic of Lithuania 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000003373991.0000003,373,991 &0000000000065303.00000065,303 Vilnius 13 .lt
Flag of Luxembourg
Luxembourg Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 &0000000000476200.000000476,200 &0000000000002586.0000002,586 Luxembourg 6 .lu
Flag of Malta
Malta Republic of Malta 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000000404962.000000404,962 &0000000000000316.000000316 Valletta 5 .mt
Flag of the Netherlands
Netherlands Kingdom of the Netherlands4 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 &0000000016372715.00000016,372,715 &0000000000041526.00000041,526 Amsterdam 27 .nl
Flag of Poland
Poland Republic of Poland 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000038116486.00000038,116,486 &0000000000312683.000000312,683 Warsaw 54 .pl
Flag of Portugal
Portugal Portuguese Republic 01986-01-01 1 January 1986 &0000000010599095.00000010,599,095 &0000000000092391.00000092,391 Lisbon 24 .pt
Flag of Romania
Romania Romania 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 &0000000022276056.00000022,276,056 &0000000000238391.000000238,391 Bucharest 35 .ro
Flag of Slovakia
Slovakia Slovak Republic 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000005396168.0000005,396,168 &0000000000049037.00000049,037 Bratislava 14 .sk
Flag of Slovenia
Slovenia Republic of Slovenia 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 &0000000002013597.0000002,013,597 &0000000000020273.00000020,273 Ljubljana 7 .si
Flag of Spain
Spain Kingdom of Spain 01986-01-01 1 January 1986 &0000000045116894.00000045,116,894 &0000000000506030.000000506,030 Madrid 54 .es
Flag of Sweden
Sweden Kingdom of Sweden 01995-01-01 1 January 1995 &0000000009142817.0000009,142,817 &0000000000449964.000000449,964 Stockholm 19 .se
Flag of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 01973-01-01 1 January 1973 &0000000060587300.00000060,587,300 &0000000000244820.000000244,820 London 78 .uk
– – Total – 497,198,740 4,324,782 – 785 –

1 Greenland left the European Community in 1985.
2 On 01990-10-03 03 October 1990, the constituent states of the former German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, automatically becoming part of the EU.
3 The constitutional name of the country is Ireland, not Republic of Ireland. See the country article.
4 "Kingdom of the Netherlands" is correct. See this article.

[edit] See also

v • d • e
 Member States of the European Union
by accession · by political system · by population · by GDP

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