Member state of the European Union

Member states of the European Union
Finland Sweden Estonia Latvia Lithuania Poland Slovakia Hungary Romania Bulgaria Greece Cyprus Czech Republic Austria Slovenia Italy Malta Portugal Spain France Germany Luxembourg Belgium Netherlands Denmark United Kingdom IrelandMap showing the member states of the European Union (clickable)
About this image
Category Sovereign states[1]
Location European Union
Created 1952/1958[2]
Number 28 (as of 2015)
Possible types Republics (21)
Monarchies (7)
Populations 508,191,116 (2015)[3]
Areas 4,381,376 km²
Government Parliamentary representative democracy (24)
Semi-presidential representative democracy (3)
Presidential representative democracy (1)

The European Union (EU) consists of 28 member states. Each member state is party to the founding treaties of the union and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. Unlike members of most international organisations, the member states of the EU are subjected to binding laws in exchange for representation within the common legislative and judicial institutions. Member states must agree unanimously for the EU to adopt policies concerning defence and foreign affairs.[4] Subsidiarity is a founding principle of the EU.

In 1957, six core states founded the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany). The remaining states have acceded in subsequent enlargements. On 1 July 2013, Croatia became the newest member state of the EU. In order to accede, a state must fulfill the economic and political requirements known as the Copenhagen criteria, which require a candidate to have a democratic, free market government together with the corresponding freedoms and institutions, and respect for the rule of law. Enlargement of the Union is also contingent upon the consent of all existing members and the candidate's adoption of the existing body of EU law, known as the acquis communautaire.

There is disparity in the size, wealth and political system of member states, but all have equal rights. While in some areas majority voting takes place where larger states have more votes than smaller ones, smaller states have disproportional representation compared to their population. No member state has withdrawn or been suspended from the EU, though some dependent territories or semi-autonomous areas have left. In June 2016, the United Kingdom held a referendum on membership of the EU, resulting in 51.89% of votes cast in favour to leaving. Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 on 29 March 2017 to formally initiate the withdrawal process.[5]

List

Country name Native name Arms Flag Capital Accession
Population
Area (km²)
GDP (Millions of US$) GDP per cap.
(PPP)
[6]
Currency
Gini
HDI
Council
votes
EP
seats
Languages Territories
Austria Österreich
Austria Vienna 1995 8,581,500[7] 83,855 437,582 47,031[8] euro 29.1[9] 0.885[10] 10 18 German
Belgium Belgique/België/Belgien Belgium Brussels Founder 11,258,434[7] 30,528 534,230 43,800[8] euro 33.0[9] 0.890[10] 12 21 Dutch
French
German
Bulgaria България (Bǎlgariya) Bulgaria Sofia 2007 7,202,198[7] 110,994 55,824 18,326[8] lev 29.2[9] 0.782[10] 10 17 Bulgarian
Croatia Hrvatska Croatia Zagreb 2013 4,225,316[7] 56,594 57,073 21,169[8] kuna 29[9] 0.818[10] 7 11 Croatian
Cyprus Κύπρος / Kıbrıs Cyprus Nicosia 2004 847,008[7] 9,251 23,263 30,769[8] euro 31.2[9] 0.850[10] 4 6 Greek
Turkish[lower-alpha 1]
Czech Republic Česko Czech Republic Prague 2004 10,419,743[7] 78,866 205,270 30,895[8] Czech koruna 25.8[9] 0.870[10] 12 21 Czech [lower-alpha 4]
Denmark Danmark Denmark Copenhagen 1973 5,653,357[7] 43,075 342,362 45,451[8] krone (DKK) 24.7[9] 0.923[10] 7 13 Danish
Estonia Eesti Estonia Tallinn 2004 1,313,271[7] 45,227 26,506 27,994[8] euro 36.0[9] 0.861[10] 4 6 Estonian
Finland Suomi/Finland Finland Helsinki 1995 5,471,753[7] 338,424 272,649 40,838[8] euro 26.9[9] 0.883[10] 7 13 Finnish
Swedish
France France France Paris Founder 66,352,469[7] 632,833[11] 2,833,687 41,018[8] euro 32.7[9] 0.888[10] 29 74 French
Germany Deutschland Germany Berlin Founder[lower-alpha 7] 81,089,331[7] 357,021 3,874,437 46,895[8] euro 28.3[9] 0.916[10] 29 96 German
Greece Ελλάδα (Elláda) Greece Athens 1981 10,846,979[7] 131,990 237,970 26,773[8] euro 34.3[9] 0.865[10] 12 21 Greek
Hungary Magyarország Hungary Budapest 2004 9,855,571[7] 93,030 136,989 25,895[8] forint 30.0[9] 0.828[10] 12 21 Hungarian
Ireland Éire/Ireland Republic of Ireland Dublin 1973 4,761,865[7] 70,273 250,814 51,118[8] euro 34.3[9] 0.916[10] 7 11 Irish
English
Italy Italia Italy Rome Founder 61,438,480[7] 301,338 2,147,744 35,811[8] euro 36.0[9] 0.873[10] 29 73 Italian
Latvia Latvija Latvia Riga 2004 1,986,096[7] 64,589 31,972 24,540[8] euro 35.7[9] 0.819[10] 4 8 Latvian
Lithuania Lietuva Lithuania Vilnius 2004 2,921,262[7] 65,200 48,288 28,210[8] euro 35.8[9] 0.839[10] 7 11 Lithuanian
Luxembourg Luxembourg/Luxemburg/Lëtzebuerg Luxembourg Luxembourg Founder 562,958[7] 2,586.4 65,683 93,173[8] euro 30.8[9] 0.892[10] 4 6 French
German
Luxembourgish[lower-alpha 8]
Malta Malta Malta Valletta 2004 429,344[7] 316 10,514 34,544[8] euro 25.8[9] 0.839[10] 3 6 Maltese
English
Netherlands Nederland Netherlands Amsterdam Founder 17,155,169[7] 41,543 880,716 48,317[8] euro 30.9[9] 0.922[10] 13 26 Dutch
Poland Polska Poland Warsaw 2004 38,005,614[7] 312,685 547,894 26,210[8] złoty 34.9[9] 0.843[10] 27 51 Polish
Portugal Portugal Portugal Lisbon 1986 10,374,822[7] 92,390 229,948 27,624[8] euro 38.5[9] 0.830[10] 12 21 Portuguese
Romania România Romania Bucharest 2007 19,861,408[7] 238,391 199,093 20,526[8] leu 31.5[9] 0.793[10] 14 32 Romanian
Slovakia Slovensko Slovakia Bratislava 2004 5,403,134[7] 49,035 99,869 29,209[8] euro 25.8[9] 0.844[10] 7 13 Slovak
Slovenia Slovenija Slovenia Ljubljana 2004 2,062,874[7] 20,273 49,570 30,508[8] euro 31.2[9] 0.880[10] 4 8 Slovene
Spain España Spain Madrid 1986 46,439,864[7] 504,030 1,406,538 34,899[8] euro 32.0[9] 0.876[10] 27 54 Spanish[lower-alpha 9]
Sweden Sverige Sweden Stockholm 1995 9,790,000[7] 449,964 570,591 47,228[8] krona (SEK) 25.0[9] 0.907[10] 10 20 Swedish
United Kingdom[lower-alpha 10] United Kingdom United Kingdom London 1973 64,767,115[7] 243,610 2,950,039 40,676[8] pound sterling 36.0[9] 0.907[10] 29 73 English
Welsh
Notes
  1. The Turkish language is not an official language of the European Union.
  2. Northern Cyprus is not recognised by the EU, so it is de jure part of the Republic of Cyprus and the EU, but de facto is outside the control of both entities and operates as an independent state recognised only by Turkey. See Cyprus dispute.
  3. De jure part of the Republic of Cyprus and the EU, but de facto is outside of the control of both due to the ongoing Cyprus dispute. It is administered by the United Nations.
  4. Officially recognized minority languages:
  5. Greenland left the then-EEC in 1985.
  6. 1 2 See Article 355(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
  7. On 3 October 1990, the constituent states of the former German Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany, automatically becoming part of the EU.
  8. The Luxembourgish language is not an official language of the European Union.
  9. Co-official languages in their respective territories are Basque, Catalan/Valencian and Galician. Unlike other regional languages, an agreement between Spain and the Council of the European Union means these are allowed to be used in EU institutions. However, none of these languages are official languages of the European Union.
  10. Following a referendum on 23 June 2016 in favour of leaving the European Union, British Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 on 29 March 2017, putting the United Kingdom on track to finish withdrawing by 29 March 2019.[12]

Enlargement

The continental territories of the member states of the European Union (European Communities pre-1993), animated in order of accession.

According to the Copenhagen criteria, membership of the European Union is open to any European country that is a stable, free market liberal democracy that respects the rule of law and human rights. Furthermore, it has to be willing to accept all the obligations of membership, such as adopting all previously agreed law (the 170,000 pages of acquis communautaire) and switching to the euro.[13] In order to join the European Union, it is required for all member states to agree; if a single member state disagrees, the applying country is declined acceptance to the European Union. In addition to enlargement by adding new countries, the EU can also expand by having territories of member states, which are outside the EU, integrate more closely (for example in respect to the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles) or by a territory of a member state which had previously seceded and then rejoined (see withdrawal below).

Enlargement is, and has been, a principal feature of the Union's political landscape.[14] The EU's predecessors were founded by the "Inner Six", those countries willing to forge ahead with the Community while others remained skeptical. It was only a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, which led to the first skepticism of enlargement. French President Charles de Gaulle feared British membership would be an American Trojan horse and vetoed its application. It was only after de Gaulle left office and a 12-hour talk by British Prime Minister Edward Heath and French President Georges Pompidou took place that the United Kingdom's third application succeeded in 1970.[15][16][17]

Applying in 1969 were the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Norway. Norway, however, declined to accept the invitation to become a member when the electorate voted against it,[18][19] leaving just the UK, Ireland and Denmark to join.[20] But despite the setbacks, and the withdrawal of Greenland from Denmark's membership in 1985,[21] three more countries joined the Communities before the end of the Cold War.[20] In 1987, the geographical extent of the project was tested when Morocco applied, and was rejected as it was not considered a European country.[22]

The year 1990 saw the Cold War drawing to a close, and East Germany was welcomed into the Community as part of a reunited Germany. Shortly after, the previously neutral countries of Austria, Finland and Sweden acceded to the new European Union,[20] though Switzerland, which applied in 1992, froze its application due to opposition from voters[23] while Norway, which had applied once more, had its voters reject membership again.[24] Meanwhile, the members of the former Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia were all starting to move towards EU membership. Ten of these joined in a major enlargement on 1 May 2004 symbolising the unification of East and Western Europe in the EU.[25] Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007.

European Union

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government
of the European Union

The year 2013 saw the latest member, Croatia, accede to the Union, and the EU has prioritised membership for the rest of the Balkans – namely Western Balkans. Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey are all formally acknowledged as candidates.[26] Turkish membership, pending since the 1980s, is a more contentious issue but it entered negotiations in 2005.[27] Additionally, Bosnia and Kosovo are recognized as potential candidates for membership.

Representation

The flags of the EU and the then-25 member states seen outside the European Parliament in 2004
A 2011 'family photo' of the European Council, which comprises the heads of state or government of the member states, along with President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission

Each state has representation in the institutions of the European Union. Full membership gives the government of a member state a seat in the Council of the European Union and European Council. When decisions are not being taken by consensus, votes are weighted so that a country with a greater population has more votes within the Council than a smaller country (though the number of votes in relation to population is weighted disproportionately in favour of smaller member states). The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates between each of the member states, allowing each state six months to help direct the agenda of the EU.[28][29]

Similarly, each state is assigned seats in Parliament according to their population (again, with the smaller countries receiving more seats per inhabitant than the larger ones). The members of the European Parliament have been elected by universal suffrage since 1979 (before that, they were seconded from national parliaments).[30][31]

The national governments appoint one member each to the European Commission (in accord with its president), the European Court of Justice (in accord with other members) and the European Court of Auditors. Historically, larger member states were granted an extra Commissioner. However, as the body grew, this right has been removed and each state is represented equally. The six largest states are also granted an Advocates General in the Court of Justice. Finally, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank includes the governors of the national central banks (who may or may not be government appointed) of each euro area country.[32]

The larger states traditionally carry more weight in negotiations, however smaller states can be effective impartial mediators and citizens of smaller states are often appointed to sensitive top posts to avoid competition between the larger states. This, together with the disproportionate representation of the smaller states in terms of votes and seats in parliament, gives the smaller EU states a greater clout than normally attributed to a state of their size. However most negotiations are still dominated by the larger states. This has traditionally been largely through the "Franco-German motor" but Franco-German influence has diminished slightly following the influx of new members in 2004 (see G6).[33]

Sovereignty

Article 4
# In accordance with Article 5, competences not conferred upon the Union in the Treaties remain with the member states.
  1. The Union shall respect the equality of member states before the Treaties as well as their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government. It shall respect their essential State functions, including ensuring the territorial integrity of the State, maintaining law and order and safeguarding national security. In particular, national security remains the sole responsibility of each member state.
  2. Pursuant to the principle of sincere cooperation, the Union and the member states shall, in full mutual respect, assist each other in carrying out tasks which flow from the Treaties. The member states shall take any appropriate measure, general or particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaties or resulting from the acts of the institutions of the Union. The member states shall facilitate the achievement of the Union's tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the Union's objectives.

Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union

While the member states are sovereign, the union partially follows a supranational system that is comparable to federalism. Previously limited to European Community matters, the practice, known as the "community method", is currently used in most areas of policy. Combined sovereignty is delegated by each member to the institutions in return for representation within those institutions. This practice is often referred to as "pooling of sovereignty".[34] Those institutions are then empowered to make laws and execute them at a European level.

If a state fails to comply with the law of the European Union, it may be fined or have funds withdrawn.

In contrast to other organisations, the EU's style of integration has "become a highly developed system for mutual interference in each other's domestic affairs".[35] However, on defence and foreign policy issues (and, pre-Lisbon Treaty, police and judicial matters) less sovereignty is transferred, with issues being dealt with by unanimity and cooperation. Very early on in the history of the EU, the unique state of its establishment and pooling of sovereignty was emphasised by the Court of Justice:[36]

By creating a Community of unlimited duration, having its own institutions, its own personality, its own legal capacity and capacity of representation on the international plane and, more particularly, real powers stemming from a limitation of sovereignty or a transfer of powers from the States to Community, the Member States have limited their sovereign rights and have thus created a body of law which binds both their nationals and themselves...The transfer by the States from their domestic legal system to the Community legal system of the rights and obligations arising under the Treaty carries with it a permanent limitation of their sovereign rights.
European Court of Justice 1964, in reference to case of Costa v ENEL

Yet, as sovereignty still originates from the national level, it may be withdrawn by a member state who wishes to leave. Hence, if a law is agreed that is not to the liking of a state, it may withdraw from the EU to avoid it. This however has not happened as the benefits of membership are often seen to outweigh the potentially negative impact of a specific law.

The question of whether EU law is superior to national law is subject to some debate. The treaties do not give a judgement on the matter but court judgements have established EU's law superiority over national law and it is affirmed in a declaration attached to the Treaty of Lisbon (the European Constitution would have fully enshrined this). Some national legal systems also explicitly accept the Court of Justice's interpretation, such as France and Italy, however in Poland it does not override the national constitution, which it does in Germany. The exact areas where the member states have given legislative competence to the EU are as follows. Every area not mentioned remains with member states.

As outlined in Title I of Part I of the consolidated Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Exclusive competence
Shared competence
Supporting competence
"The Union has exclusive competence to make directives and conclude international agreements when provided for in a Union legislative act."
"Member States cannot exercise competence in areas where the Union has done so."
"Union exercise of competence shall not result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs in" 
  • research, technological development and (outer) space
  • development cooperation, humanitarian aid
"The Union coordinates Member States policies or implements supplemental to theirs common policies, not covered elsewhere"
"The Union can carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement Member States' actions in" 
  • the protection and improvement of human health
  • industry
  • culture
  • tourism
  • education, youth, sport and vocational training
  • civil protection (disaster prevention)
  • administrative cooperation

As a result of the European sovereign debt crisis, some eurozone states required a bailout from the EU via the European Financial Stability Facility and European Financial Stability Mechanism (to be replaced by the European Stability Mechanism from 2013). In exchange for their bailout, Greece was required to accept a large austerity plan including privatisations and a sell off of state assets. In order to ensure that Greece complies with the EU's demands, a "large-scale technical assistance" from the European Commission and other member states has been deployed to Greek government ministries. Some, including the President of the Euro Group Jean-Claude Juncker, state that "the sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited."[37][38][39] The situation of the bailed out countries (Greece, Portugal and Ireland) has been described as being a ward[40][41][42] or protectorate[39][43][44] of the EU with some such as the Netherlands calling for a formalisation of the situation.[45]

Opt-outs

A number of states are less integrated into the EU than others. In most cases this is because those states have gained an opt-out from a certain policy area. The most notable is the opt-out from the Economic and Monetary Union, the adoption of the euro as sole legal currency. Most states outside the Eurozone are obliged to adopt the euro when they are ready, but Denmark and the United Kingdom have obtained the right to retain their own independent currencies.

Ireland and the United Kingdom also do not participate in the Schengen Agreement, which eliminates internal EU border checks. Denmark has an opt out from the Common Security and Defence Policy; Denmark, Ireland and the UK have an opt-out on police and justice matters and Poland and the UK have an opt out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Outermost regions

There are a number of overseas member state territories which are legally part of the EU, but have certain exemptions based on their remoteness. These "outermost regions" have partial application of EU law and in some cases are outside of Schengen or the EU VAT area—however they are legally within the EU.[46] They all use the euro as their currency.

Territory Member State Location Area
km2
Population Per capita GDP
(EU=100)
EU VAT area Schengen area
 Azores  Portugal Atlantic Ocean 2,333 237,900 66.7 Yes Yes
 Canary Islands  Spain Atlantic Ocean 7,447 1,715,700 93.7 No Yes
 French Guiana  France South America 84,000 161,100 50.5 No No
 Guadeloupe  France Caribbean 1,710 425,700 50.5 No No
 Madeira  Portugal Atlantic Ocean 795 244,800 94.9 Yes Yes
 Saint-Martin  France Caribbean 52 25,000 61.9 No No
 Martinique  France Caribbean 1,080 383,300 75.6 No No
 Réunion  France Indian Ocean 2,512 837,868 61.6 No No
 Mayotte[47]  France Indian Ocean 374 212,645 No No

Political systems

Entry to the EU is limited to liberal democracies and Freedom House ranks all EU states as being totally free electoral democracies. All but 4 are ranked at the top 1.0 rating.[48] However, the exact political system of a state is not limited, with each state having its own system based on its historical evolution.

The majority of member states—17 out of 28—are parliamentary republics, while seven states are constitutional monarchies, meaning they have a monarch although political powers are exercised by elected politicians. Most republics and all the monarchies operate a parliamentary system whereby the head of state (president or monarch) has a largely ceremonial role with reserve powers. That means most power is in the hands of what is called in most of those countries the prime minister, who is accountable to the national parliament. Of the remaining republics, three operate a semi-presidential system, where competencies are shared between the president and prime minister, while one republic operates a presidential system, where the president is head of state and government.

The EU is divided between unicameral (single chamber) and bicameral (dual chamber) parliaments, with 15 unicameral national parliaments and 13 bicameral parliaments. The prime minister and government are usually directly accountable to the directly elected lower house and require its support to stay in office—the exception being Cyprus with its presidential system. Upper houses are composed differently in different member states: it can be directly elected like the Polish senate, indirectly elected, for example, by regional legislatures like the Federal Council of Austria, unelected, but representing certain interest groups like the National Council of Slovenia, unelected (though by and large appointed by elected officials) as a remnant of a non-democratic political system in earlier times (as in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom). Most (though not all) elections in the EU use some form of proportional representation. The most common type of proportional representation is the party-list system.

There are also differences in the level of self-governance for the sub-regions of a member state. Most states, especially the smaller ones, are unitary states; meaning all major political power is concentrated at the national level. 10 states allocate power to more local levels of government. Austria, Belgium and Germany are full federations, meaning their regions have constitutional autonomies. Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal are federacies, meaning some regions have autonomy but most do not. Spain and Italy have system of devolution where regions have autonomy, but the national government retains the right to revoke it. The United Kingdom has a system of asymmetric devolution, whereby Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland enjoy a degree of self-government.[49]

States such as France have a number of overseas territories, retained from their former empires. Some of these territories such as French Guiana are part of the EU (see outermost regions, above) while others are related to the EU or outside it, such as the Falkland Islands.

Withdrawal

The Lisbon Treaty made the first provision of a member state to leave. The procedure for a state to leave is outlined in TEU Article 50 which also makes clear that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Although it calls for a negotiated withdrawal between the seceding state and the rest of the EU, if no agreement is reached two years after the seceding state notifying of its intention to leave, it would cease to be subject to the treaties anyway (thus ensuring a right to unilateral withdrawal).[50] There is no formal limit to how much time a member state can take between adopting a policy of withdrawal, and actually triggering Article 50.

In a non-binding referendum in June 2016 the United Kingdom voted to withdraw from the EU. Termed "Brexit", this has become government policy under Prime Minister Theresa May. UK government triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017.[5] Once triggered, formal talks could begin but there is no certainty of a deal and some EU officials are preparing to deal with a situation where no deal is reached after the two-year limit.[51]

Prior to 2016, no member state had ever voted to withdraw. However Greenland, as a territory, did leave the EU in 1985 when gaining home rule from a member state (Denmark). The situation of Greenland being outside the EU while still subject to an EU member state had been discussed as a template for the pro-EU regions of the UK remaining within the EU or its single market.[52]

Beyond the formal withdrawal of a member state, there are a number of independence movements such as Catalonia or Flanders which could result in a similar situation to Greenland. Were a territory of a member state to secede but wish to remain in the EU, some scholars claim it would need to reapply to join as if it were a new country applying from scratch.[53] However, other studies claim internal enlargement is legally viable if, in case of a member state dissolution or secession, the resulting states are all considered successor states.[54] There is also a European Citizens' Initiative that aims at guaranteeing the continuity of rights and obligations of the European citizens belonging to a new state arising from the democratic secession of a European Union member state.[55]

Suspension

TEU Article 7 provides for the suspension of certain rights of a member state. Introduced in the Treaty of Amsterdam, Article 7 outlines that if a member persistently breaches the EU's founding principles (liberty, democracy, human rights and so forth, outlined in TEU Article 2) then the European Council can vote to suspend any rights of membership, such as voting and representation as outlined above. Identifying the breach requires unanimity (excluding the state concerned), but sanctions require only a qualified majority.[56]

The state in question would still be bound by the obligations treaties and the Council acting by majority may alter or lift such sanctions. The Treaty of Nice included a preventative mechanism whereby the Council, acting by majority, may identify a potential breach and make recommendations to the state to rectify it before action is taken against it as outlined above.[56] However the treaties do not provide any mechanism to expel a member state outright.[50]

Council of Europe Schengen Area European Free Trade Association European Economic Area Eurozone European Union European Union Customs Union Agreement with EU to mint euros GUAM Central European Free Trade Agreement Craiova Group EU Med Group Switzerland-Liechtenstein customs and monetary union Nordic-Baltic Eight Open borders with Schengen Nordic Council Baltic Assembly Benelux Visegrád Group Weimar Triangle Common Travel Area Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Union State Switzerland Iceland Norway Liechtenstein Sweden Denmark Finland Poland Czech Republic Hungary Slovakia Estonia Latvia Lithuania Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Austria Slovenia France Spain Portugal Italy Greece Malta Cyprus Ireland United Kingdom Croatia Romania Bulgaria Turkey Andorra Monaco San Marino Vatican City Moldova Ukraine Georgia Azerbaijan Armenia Russia Belarus Serbia Albania Macedonia Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro Kosovo (UNMIK) Kazakhstan
A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations and agreements.

There are a number of countries with strong links with the EU, similar to elements of membership. Following Norway's decision not to join the EU, it remained one of the members of the European Economic Area which also includes Iceland and Liechtenstein (all former members have joined the EU, and Switzerland rejected membership). The EEA links these countries into the EU's market, extending the four freedoms to these states. In return, they pay a membership fee and have to adopt most areas of EU law (which they do not have direct impact in shaping). The democratic repercussions of this have been described as "fax democracy" (waiting for new laws to be faxed in from Brussels rather than being involved in drafting them).[57]

A different example is Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been under international supervision. The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina is an international administrator who has wide-ranging powers over Bosnia and Herzegovina to ensure the peace agreement is respected. The High Representative is also the EU's representative, and is in practice appointed by the EU. In this role, and since a major ambition of Bosnia and Herzegovina is to join the EU, the country has become a de facto protectorate of the EU. The EU appointed representative has the power to impose legislation and dismiss elected officials and civil servants, meaning the EU has greater direct control over Bosnia and Herzegovina than its own states. Indeed, the state's flag was inspired by the EU's flag.[58]

In the same manner as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo is under heavy EU influence, particularly after the de facto transfer from UN to EU authority. In theory Kosovo is supervised by EU missions, with justice and policing personal training and helping to build up the state institutions. However the EU mission does enjoy certain executive powers over the state and has a responsibility to maintain stability and order.[59] Like Bosnia, Kosovo has been termed an "EU protectorate".[60][61][62]

However, there is also the largely defunct term of associate member. It has occasionally been applied to states which have signed an association agreement with the EU. Associate membership is not a formal classification and does not entitle the state to any of the representation of free movement rights that full membership allows. The term is almost unheard of in the modern context and was primarily used in the earlier days of the EU with countries such as Greece and Turkey. Turkey's association agreement was the 1963 Ankara Agreement, implying that Turkey became an associate member that year.[63][64] Present association agreements include the Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the western Balkans; these states are no longer termed "associate members".

See also

References

  1. See section on sovereignty for details on the extent to which sovereignty is shared.
  2. The first states first formed the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and then created the parallel European Economic Community in 1958. Although the latter was later, it is more often considered the immediate predecessor to the EU. The former has always shared the same membership and has since been absorbed by the EU.
  3. "Eurostat – Population on 1 January 2015". European Commission. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. EU foreign policy is agreed case by case where every member state agrees to a common position. Thus a member state can veto a foreign policy it does not agree with and agreed policy tends to be lose and infrequent.
  5. 1 2 Theresa May to trigger article 50 by end of March 2017, the Guardian, 2 October 2016
  6. at purchasing power parity, per capita, in international dollars (rounded)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Council Decision of 8 December 2015 ().
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 IMF
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 "UNDP.org". hdrstats.undp.org. Archived from the original on 17 October 2009.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 "Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index". HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  11. https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/figures/living_en
  12. "Prime Minister’s letter to Donald Tusk triggering Article 50". gov.uk. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  13. "Accession criteria". Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  14. European Commission (18 January 2016). "EU by topic: Enlargement". Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  15. "Britain shut out". BBC News. 2002. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
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