Member State of the European Union

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EU Member State
Category	Sovereign states
Location	European Union
Created	1952/1958
Number	27 (as at 1 January 2007)
Possible types	Republics (20)
	Kingdoms (6)
	Grand duchies (1)
Populations	416,333–81,757,595
Areas	316–674,843 km²
Government	Parliamentary representative democracy (23)
	Presidential representative democracy (1)
	Semi-presidential representative democracy (3)

A Member State of the European Union is any one of the 27 sovereign states that have acceded to the European Union (EU) since its inception in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). From an original membership of six states, there have been six successive enlargements, the largest occurring on 1 May 2004, when ten states joined. The EU is currently composed of twenty republics, six kingdoms, and one grand duchy.

Bulgaria and Romania are the most recent Member States, joining on 1 January 2007 bringing the EU to a population of 501,259,840^[1] over an area of 4,456,304km². 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 harmonisation of national laws.

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.

[edit] List

Flag	Emb lem	Common name	Official name	Accession	Population	Area (km²)	Capital	Languages	Special territories
		Austria	Republik Österreich	01995-01-01 1 January 1995	&0000000008372930.0000008,372,930[2]	&0000000000083871.00000083,871	Vienna	German	–
		Belgium	Koninkrijk België Royaume de Belgique Königreich Belgien	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&0000000010827519.00000010,827,519[3]	&0000000000030528.00000030,528	Brussels	Flemish (Dutch) French German	–
		Bulgaria	Република България	02007-01-01 1 January 2007	&0000000007576751.0000007,576,751[4]	&0000000000110910.000000110,910	Sofia	Bulgarian	–
		Cyprus	Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000000801851.000000801,851[5]	&0000000000009251.0000009,251	Nicosia	Greek Turkish	3 excluded excludes:  Northern Cyprus[t 1] UN buffer zone[t 2] UK Sovereign Base Areas
		Czech Republic	Česká republika	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000010512397.00000010,512,397[6]	&0000000000078866.00000078,866	Prague	Czech	–
		Denmark	Kongeriget Danmark	01973-01-01 1 January 1973	&0000000005547088.0000005,547,088[7]	&0000000000043094.00000043,094	Copenhagen	Danish	2 excluded excludes:  Faroe Islands  Greenland[t 3]
		Estonia	Eesti Vabariik	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000001340274.0000001,340,274[8]	&0000000000045226.00000045,226	Tallinn	Estonian	–
		Finland	Suomen tasavalta Republiken Finland	01995-01-01 1 January 1995	&0000000005350475.0000005,350,475[9]	&0000000000338145.000000338,145	Helsinki	Finnish Swedish	1 Includes:  Åland Islands
		France	République française	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&0000000064709480.00000064,709,480[10]	&0000000000674843.000000674,843	Paris	French	6 + 6 excluded includes:  French Guiana  Guadeloupe  Martinique  Réunion  Saint Barthélemy[t 4]  Saint Martin[t 4] excludes:  New Caledonia  Mayotte  French Polynesia  Saint Pierre & Miquelon  TAAF  Wallis and Futuna
		Germany	Bundesrepublik Deutschland	01957-03-25 25 March 1957[t 5]	&0000000081757595.00000081,757,595[11]	&0000000000357050.000000357,050	Berlin	German	–
		Greece	Ελληνική Δημοκρατία	01981-01-01 1 January 1981	&0000000011125179.00000011,125,179[12]	&0000000000131990.000000131,990	Athens	Greek	–
		Hungary	Magyar Köztársaság	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000010013628.00000010,013,628[13]	&0000000000093030.00000093,030	Budapest	Hungarian	–
		Ireland	Éire Ireland[t 6]	01973-01-01 1 January 1973	&0000000004450878.0000004,450,878[14]	&0000000000070273.00000070,273	Dublin	Irish English	–
		Italy	Repubblica italiana	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&0000000060397353.00000060,397,353[15]	&0000000000301318.000000301,318	Rome	Italian	–
		Latvia	Latvijas Republika	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000002248961.0000002,248,961[16]	&0000000000064589.00000064,589	Riga	Latvian	–
		Lithuania	Lietuvos Respublika	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000003329227.0000003,329,227[17]	&0000000000065303.00000065,303	Vilnius	Lithuanian	–
		Luxembourg	Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&0000000000502207.000000502,207[18]	&0000000000002586.0000002,586	Luxembourg	French German Luxembourgish	–
		Malta	Repubblika ta' Malta Republic of Malta	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000000416333.000000416,333[19]	&0000000000000316.000000316	Valletta	Maltese English	–
		Netherlands	Koninkrijk der Nederlanden[t 7]	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&0000000016576800.00000016,576,800[20]	&0000000000041526.00000041,526	Amsterdam[t 8]	Dutch	2 excluded excludes:  Aruba  Netherlands Antilles
		Poland	Rzeczpospolita Polska	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000038163895.00000038,163,895[21]	&0000000000312683.000000312,683	Warsaw	Polish	–
		Portugal	República Portuguesa	01986-01-01 1 January 1986	&0000000010636888.00000010,636,888[22]	&0000000000092391.00000092,391	Lisbon	Portuguese	–
		Romania	România[t 9]	02007-01-01 1 January 2007	&0000000021466174.00000021,466,174[23]	&0000000000238391.000000238,391	Bucharest	Romanian	–
		Slovakia	Slovenská republika	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000005424057.0000005,424,057[24]	&0000000000049037.00000049,037	Bratislava	Slovakian	–
		Slovenia	Republika Slovenija	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&0000000002054119.0000002,054,119[25]	&0000000000020273.00000020,273	Ljubljana	Slovenian	–
		Spain	Reino de España	01986-01-01 1 January 1986	&0000000046087170.00000046,087,170[26]	&0000000000506030.000000506,030	Madrid	Spanish	–
		Sweden	Konungariket Sverige	01995-01-01 1 January 1995	&0000000009347899.0000009,347,899[27]	&0000000000449964.000000449,964	Stockholm	Swedish	–
		United Kingdom	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	01973-01-01 1 January 1973	&0000000062041708.00000062,041,708[28]	&0000000000244820.000000244,820	London	English	1 + 16 excluded includes:  Gibraltar excludes: Akrotiri and Dhekelia  Anguilla  British Antarctic Territory  Bermuda  Cayman Islands  Falkland Islands  Guernsey British Indian Ocean Territory  Jersey  Isle of Man  Montserrat  Pitcairn Islands  Saint Helena South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands  British Virgin Islands

Notes

[edit] Enlargement

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

Enlargement has been a principal feature of the Union's political landscape. The EU's predecessors were founded by the "Inner Six", those countries willing to forge ahead with the Community while others remained sceptical. It was but a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, which led to the first scepticism 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 George Pompidou took place did Britain's third application succeed (in 1970).^[29][30][31]

Applying in 1969 were Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Norway. Norway however declined to accept the invitation to become a member,^[32] with the electorate voting against it^[33] leaving just the UK, Ireland and Denmark to join.^[29] But despite the setbacks, and the withdrawal of Greenland from Denmark's membership in 1985,^[34] three more countries would join the Communities before the end of the Cold War.^[29] In 1987, the geographical extent of the project was tested when Morocco applied, and was rejected as it was not considered a European country.^[35]

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,^[29] though Switzerland, which applied in 2002, froze its application due to opposition from voters^[36] while Norway, which had applied once more, had its voters reject membership again.^[37] Meanwhile, the members of the former Eastern bloc and Yugoslavia were all starting to move towards EU membership. 10 of these joined in a "big bang" enlargement on 1 May 2004 symbolising the unification of East and Western Europe in the EU.^[38]

2007 saw the latest members, Bulgaria and Romania, accede to the Union and the EU has prioritised membership for the Western Balkans. Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey are all formal, acknowledged candidates.^[39] Turkey, which applied in the 1980s, is a more contentious issue but entered negotiations in 2004 (see Accession of Turkey to the European Union).^[40] There are at present no plans to cease enlargement; 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 joining the euro.^[41]

[edit] Political systems

As discussed above, the entry criteria for the EU is limited to liberal democracies. However, the exact political system of a state is not limited. Thus, each state has its own system based upon its historical evolution. Seven states are constitutional monarchies (one of these is a grand duchy, the others kingdoms), meaning they have a monarchy although political powers are practiced by elected politicians. Of the republics, Cyprus operates a presidential system (the president is head of state and government) and three others operate a semi-presidential system (competencies shared between the president and prime minister. All remaining republics and all the monarchies operate a parliamentary system whereby the head of state (president or monarchy) plays only a ceremonial role. There are also differences in regional and local government with some states such as Germany being formed as a federation and others such as Poland being a unitary state.

[edit] Representation

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union

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European Council President Herman Van Rompuy Parties List of meetings

Commission Barroso Comm. President José M. Barroso Vice Presidents Catherine Ashton Viviane Reding Joaquín Almunia Siim Kallas Neelie Kroes Antonio Tajani Maroš Šefčovič Commissioners Civil Service Secretary-General Catherine Day

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Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004 2009 (last election) 2014 (next election) Political parties EPP PES ELDR Free Alliance Greens AEN Left Democratic EUDemocrats Parl. groups EPP S&D ALDE G-EFA ECR EUL-NGL EFD Constituencies Referenda

Law Acquis comm. Primacy Subsidiarity Treaties; Rome 1957 Merger 1965 SEA 1986 Maastricht 1992 Amsterdam 1997 Nice 2001 Lisbon 2007 Fundamental Rights Membership  v • d • e

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 (although not exact, smaller countries have more votes than their population would allow relative to the largest countries). 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.

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 which they were seconded from national parliaments).

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 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 largest states are granted an Advocates General in the Court of Justice. Finally, the governing of the European Central Bank is made up of the governors of each national central bank (who may or may not be government appointed).

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.

[edit] Sovereignty

The founding treaties state that all Member States are indivisibly sovereign and of equal value. However the EU does follow a supranational system (similar to federalism) in European Community matters, in that 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".^[42] 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 extreme cases, there are provisions for the voting rights or membership of a state to be suspended. On issues outside the European Community (foreign policy, police and courts) less sovereignty is transferred, with issues being dealt with by consensus and cooperation.

However, 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 any negative impact of certain laws. Furthermore, in realpolitik, concessions and political pressure may lead to a state accepting something not in their interests in order to improve relations and hence strengthen their position on other issues.

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 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 followed. Every area not mentioned remains with member states;

[edit] Related states

A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations.v • d • e

There are a number of countries with strong links with the EU, similar to elements of membership. Following Norway's failure to join the EU, it became 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).^[43]

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 Member States. Indeed the state's flag was inspired by the EU's flag.^[44] 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.^[45]

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, from this it is drawn that Turkey became an associate member on that day.^[46][47] Present association agreements include the Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the western Balkans; these states are no longer termed "associate members".

[edit] See also

• Countries bordering the European Union
• European Commission Representation in Ireland
• Special Member State territories

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Member States – Europa