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This is a list of European Union member states, their dates of application and accession. It shows the growth of the European Union and its predecessors through enlargement from six members in 1952 to twenty-seven members in 2007; at least nine (possibly even more) are expected to join in its future.
The European Union per se was created on 1 November 1993 when the Treaty on European Union came into effect.[1] Twelve of the current twenty-seven member states joined one of the Union's predecessors, either the European Coal and Steel Community (which came into existence on 23 July 1952[2] and ceased to exist exactly 50 years later[3]), the European Economic Community (which came into existence on 1 January 1958[4]), or the European Community (which came into existence on 1 July 1967 as a merger of ECSC, EEC and the European Atomic Energy Community,[5] and was one of the three pillars of the European Union until these were abolished with the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009).
In addition to the current twenty-eight member states, a number of other countries are expected to join the European Union in the next two decades. Iceland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey are officially candidate countries; Iceland and Turkey are currently in accession negotiations,[6] and negotiations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia are expected to start soon.[7] The remaining states in the Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo) are officially "potential candidate countries", which means they have a clear perspective for accession over the course of the next decade.[8] Albania and Serbia have submitted an application for membership, but have not yet been officially recognised as candidate countries.[9][10]
Not all accession attempts have been successful, though, and on one occasion a territory even left the European Union (then European Community).
It is generally assumed that even with the accession of the states of southeastern Europe, the process of enlargement will not be finished.[16]
Armenia,[17][18] Georgia,[19] Moldova,[20][21] San Marino[22][23] and Ukraine[24][25][26][27] have stated they would like to join the European Union; however, the European Union's response was mostly lukewarm.[28] European Union membership is also the subject of political debate in Andorra,[29][30] Azerbaijan,[31] the Faroe Islands,[32] Greenland,[33] and Liechtenstein,[34] and the debates in Norway[35] and Switzerland[36] are also still ongoing. While Belarus[37] and Russia[38] are also seen as eligible to join, and while accession to the European Union enjoys public support in Belarus,[39] the lack of democratic structures makes these countries' accession impossible in the short term, especially as the European Union is supporting the Belarusian opposition and civil society in peacefully overthrowing Alexander Lukashenko's regime, which it regards as dictatorial,[40][41] going so far as to offer concrete benefits for democratic reforms.[42][43][44] Furthermore, the European Union is trying to bind Russia more strongly to its own policies and goals through partnership and cooperation agreements.[45]
Although the Treaty of Maastricht states that only European countries may apply, a number of countries not generally considered European have also considered membership bids.
The island nation of Cape Verde, part of the island region Macaronesia (which is comprised of Cape Verde, the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira and the Spanish Canary Islands) has stated it wishes to join the European Union.[46][47][48] Israel has considered applying for membership;[49] while the European Union and Israel share a common culture, history and society, the ongoing Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and Israel's location in one of the most conflict-ridden regions of the world would be major arguments against its accession. Finally, even Canada's accession has occasionally been proposed, though often rather in a tongue-in-cheek manner;[50] the main arguments used are the very similar cultural standards and viewpoints on matters of international law, especially when juxtaposed with those of the United States. None of the three countries is a member of the Council of Europe, which is a de facto prerequisite for membership under the Copenhagen criteria and the Treaty of Maastricht.
It is generally expected that the states of southeastern Europe will be the next states to join the European Union, and that neither the developed countries which are not members of the Union (Norway, Switzerland and the microstates) nor the three countries in eastern Europe (Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine) will join in the foreseeable future. Although Olli Rehn said on 19 May 2006 that he expected Iceland to join the European Union before Croatia would,[51][52] he went back on his statement when he stated on 1 December 2006 that Croatia would likely become the European Union's 28th member state;[53] he repeated this statement on 11 October 2007, with the comment that "[t]he only surprise could be Iceland, if they soon apply for membership"[54] – which they did on 17 July 2009.[55] Croatia joined on 1 July 2013.
# | State | Application | Result/status |
---|---|---|---|
— | Belgium | — | founding members |
France | |||
Italy | |||
Luxembourg | |||
Netherlands | |||
West Germany[E2] | |||
1 | Ireland | 1st: 31 July 1961 2nd: 11 May 1967 |
1st: withdrawn after Charles de Gaulle vetoed the United Kingdom's application 2nd: joined 1 January 1973 |
2–3 | Denmark | 1st: 10 August 1961 2nd: 11 May 1967 | |
United Kingdom | 1st: 10 August 1961 2nd: 10 May 1967 |
1st: vetoed by Charles de Gaulle on 14 January 1963 2nd: joined 1 January 1973 | |
4 | Norway | 1st: 30 April 1962 2nd: 21 July 1967 3rd: 25 November 1992 |
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA) member state 1st: withdrawn after Charles de Gaulle vetoed the United Kingdom's application 2nd: withdrawn after a referendum on 25 September 1972 3rd: withdrawn after a referendum on 28 November 1994 |
5 | Greece | 12 June 1975 | joined 1 January 1981 |
6 | Portugal | 28 March 1977 | joined 1 January 1986 |
7 | Spain | 28 July 1977 | |
8 | Turkey | 14 April 1987 | candidate country, in accession negotiations |
9 | Morocco | 20 July 1987 | rejected by the European Council (see geographic criteria) |
10 | Austria | 17 July 1989 | joined 1 January 1995 |
11–12 | Cyprus | 3 July 1990 | joined 1 May 2004 |
Malta | |||
13 | Sweden | 1 July 1991 | joined 1 January 1995 |
14 | Finland | 18 March 1992 | |
15 | Switzerland | 25 May 1992 | EFTA member state frozen after EEA membership was rejected in a referendum on 6 December 1992 |
16 | Hungary | 31 March 1994 | joined 1 May 2004 |
17 | Poland | 5 April 1994 | |
18 | Romania | 22 June 1995 | joined 1 January 2007 |
19 | Slovakia | 27 June 1995 | joined 1 May 2004 |
20 | Latvia | 13 October 1995 | |
21 | Estonia | 24 November 1995 | |
22 | Lithuania | 8 December 1995 | |
23 | Bulgaria | 14 December 1995 | joined 1 January 2007 |
24 | Czech Republic | 17 January 1996 | joined 1 May 2004 |
25 | Slovenia | 10 June 1996 | |
26 | Croatia | 21 February 2003 | joined 1 July 2013 |
27 | Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia[K2] | 24 March 2004 | candidate country, SAA in force since 1 May 2004 |
28 | Montenegro | 15 December 2008 | candidate country, SAA in force since 1 May 2010 |
29 | Albania | 28 April 2009 | potential candidate country, SAA in force since 1 April 2009 |
30 | Iceland | 23 July 2009 | candidate country, EFTA and EEA member state |
31 | Serbia | 22 December 2009 | candidate country, SAA in force since 1 September 2013 |
TBD | Bosnia and Herzegovina | not yet | potential candidate country, SAA signed on 16 June 2008;[56] ratification by member states technically completed, but entry into force awaits constitutional amendments[57] (compare this for ratification progress) |
Kosovo | potential candidate country, SAA negotiations not yet opened[58] | ||
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