European Union member states
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(Redirected from Member states of the EU)
Image:Members of the European Union 2004.png There have been 25 European Union member states since 10 states joined on 1 May 2004. Two more states, Bulgaria and Romania, have completed accession negotiations and are set to join the European Union on 1 January 2007.
Possible future members include:
- Croatia and Turkey, which are recognised as candidate members and currently in membership negotiations
- the three members of European Free Trade Association who are also members of the European Economic Area, although the people of Norway have twice rejected the chance to join in national referenda, and Liechtenstein and Iceland had never applied to join
- Switzerland, the fourth member of EFTA, chose not to join the EEA but has a long-standing EU membership application; however, negotiations are not active
- non-members in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, particularly the Republic of Macedonia, which is currently in the process of being recognized as a candidate country.
- non-members in the Southern Mediterranean (Maghreb states), such as Morocco and Tunisia
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Current members
Together with their dates of accession, the 25 current members of the European Union are:
Future and prospective members
- Main article: Enlargement of the European Union
Acceding states
Acceding countries (with year of submitting and accession):
- Image:Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria – Submitted application for membership in 1995; negotiations completed; set for membership on 1 January 2007.
- Image:Flag of Romania.svg Romania – Submitted application for membership in 1995; negotiations completed; set for membership on 1 January 2007.
Other candidate states
- Image:Croatia flag large.png Croatia – Signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU in October 2001; submitted application for membership in February 2003; granted candidate country status on 18 June 2004; negotiations started on 3 October 2005 after being postponed from the proposed date of 17 March 2005.
- Image:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey – Signed an Association Agreement in 1963; submitted application for membership in 1987; granted candidate country status in 1999; negotiations started on 3 October 2005. (See also Accession of Turkey to the European Union)
Other nations
- Image:Flag of Macedonia.svg Republic of Macedonia – Submitted application for membership on 22 March 2004; expected to be recommended as a candidate country by the European Commission in November 2005.
- Image:Flag of Norway.svg Norway – Applications for membership have been submitted, but membership has twice been rejected in national referenda. In November 2004, a study by the Opinion Institute found 56% of those who expressed an opinion were in favor of joining the EU, ten years after rejecting the idea by referendum. A representative of the institute stated that this has been the balance of power for two to three years. This was confirmed by another poll in April 2005. After two rejections of the EU constitution in France and Netherlands, 59% of Norwegians were opposed to membership in the EU according to a survey taken immediately after the referenda. Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, a leading figure in the 1994 'no' campaign who now sees the benfits of integration, plans to raise the subject of joining midway through the next parliament, although the matter will not form part of his election manifesto. Norway's two largest political parties, Labour and the Conservative Party, are largely pro-EU but supporters of EU membership say they are waiting for public opinion to stabilize before launching a third campaign. A new EU membership debate will be started after 2007, when a date for a referendum will be set and, pending a positive outcome, negotiations will be launched on Norway's accession.
- Image:Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland – Signed the EEA agreement and submitted an application for EU membership in May 1992, but a national referendum held in December 1992 rejected EEA membership, and the EU negotiations were abandoned, although the application for EU membership was not withdrawn. The Swiss government's stated long-term aim are met [1]. A recent study by the Demoscope Institute found that 51% percent of those polled were against EU membership.
- Image:Flag of Albania.svg Albania – Entered into an Association Agreement with the EU in 1992.
- Image:Tunisia flag large.png Tunisia – Entered into an Association Agreement with the EU in 1995.
- Image:Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco – Submitted applications to join the EU several times but turned down.
Special member state territories
- For information about EU territories and dependents outside continental Europe, see Special member state territories and their relations with the EU.
See also
References
External links
Maps of the EU are available from the European Commission: [2]
| Image:European flag.svg | European Union and candidates for enlargement | Image:European flag.svg |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | Belgium | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Ireland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Netherlands | Poland | Portugal | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | United Kingdom | ||
| Acceding countries joining on January 1, 2007: Bulgaria | Romania / Other recognised candidate countries: Croatia | Turkey | ||
