European Union member state

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The member states of the European Union Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech   Rep. Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxem. Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom

A European Union member state is any one of the twenty-seven countries that have joined the European Union (EU) since its 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.

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	State	Official name	Accession	Population	Area (km²)	Capital	MEPs	ccTLD
	Austria	Republic of Austria	01995-01-01 1 January 1995	&&&&&&&&08199783.&&&&&08,199,783	&&&&&&&&&&083871.&&&&&083,871	Vienna	18	.at
	Belgium	Kingdom of Belgium	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&&&&&&&010392226.&&&&&010,392,226	&&&&&&&&&&030528.&&&&&030,528	Brussels	24	.be
	Bulgaria	Republic of Bulgaria	02007-01-01 1 January 2007	&&&&&&&&07322858.&&&&&07,322,858	&&&&&&&&&0110910.&&&&&0110,910	Sofia	18	.bg
	Cyprus	Republic of Cyprus	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&&&0766400.&&&&&0766,400	&&&&&&&&&&&09251.&&&&&09,251	Nicosia	6	.cy
	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&010306709.&&&&&010,306,709	&&&&&&&&&&078866.&&&&&078,866	Prague	24	.cz
	Denmark	Kingdom of Denmark	01973-01-01 1 January 19731	&&&&&&&&05457415.&&&&&05,457,415	&&&&&&&&&&043094.&&&&&043,094	Copenhagen	14	.dk
	Estonia	Republic of Estonia	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&&01342409.&&&&&01,342,409	&&&&&&&&&&045226.&&&&&045,226	Tallinn	6	.ee
	Finland	Republic of Finland	01995-01-01 1 January 1995	&&&&&&&&05289128.&&&&&05,289,128	&&&&&&&&&0338145.&&&&&0338,145	Helsinki	14	.fi
	France	French Republic	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&&&&&&&063392140.&&&&&063,392,140	&&&&&&&&&0674843.&&&&&0674,843	Paris	78	.fr
	Germany	Federal Republic of Germany	01957-03-25 25 March 19572	&&&&&&&082314906.&&&&&082,314,906	&&&&&&&&&0357050.&&&&&0357,050	Berlin	99	.de
	Greece	Hellenic Republic	01981-01-01 1 January 1981	&&&&&&&011125179.&&&&&011,125,179	&&&&&&&&&0131990.&&&&&0131,990	Athens	24	.gr
	Hungary	Republic of Hungary	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&010066158.&&&&&010,066,158	&&&&&&&&&&093030.&&&&&093,030	Budapest	24	.hu
	Ireland	Ireland3	01973-01-01 1 January 1973	&&&&&&&&04239848.&&&&&04,239,848	&&&&&&&&&&070273.&&&&&070,273	Dublin	13	.ie
	Italy	Italian Republic	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&&&&&&&059131287.&&&&&059,131,287	&&&&&&&&&0301318.&&&&&0301,318	Rome	78	.it
	Latvia	Republic of Latvia	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&&02281305.&&&&&02,281,305	&&&&&&&&&&064589.&&&&&064,589	Riga	9	.lv
	Lithuania	Republic of Lithuania	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&&03373991.&&&&&03,373,991	&&&&&&&&&&065303.&&&&&065,303	Vilnius	13	.lt
	Luxembourg	Grand Duchy of Luxembourg	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&&&&&&&&&0476200.&&&&&0476,200	&&&&&&&&&&&02586.&&&&&02,586	Luxembourg	6	.lu
	Malta	Republic of Malta	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&&&0404962.&&&&&0404,962	&&&&&&&&&&&&0316.&&&&&0316	Valletta	5	.mt
	Netherlands	Kingdom of the Netherlands4	01957-03-25 25 March 1957	&&&&&&&016372715.&&&&&016,372,715	&&&&&&&&&&041526.&&&&&041,526	Amsterdam	27	.nl
	Poland	Republic of Poland	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&038116486.&&&&&038,116,486	&&&&&&&&&0312683.&&&&&0312,683	Warsaw	54	.pl
	Portugal	Portuguese Republic	01986-01-01 1 January 1986	&&&&&&&010599095.&&&&&010,599,095	&&&&&&&&&&092391.&&&&&092,391	Lisbon	24	.pt
	Romania	Romania	02007-01-01 1 January 2007	&&&&&&&022276056.&&&&&022,276,056	&&&&&&&&&0238391.&&&&&0238,391	Bucharest	35	.ro
	Slovakia	Slovak Republic	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&&05396168.&&&&&05,396,168	&&&&&&&&&&049037.&&&&&049,037	Bratislava	14	.sk
	Slovenia	Republic of Slovenia	02004-05-01 1 May 2004	&&&&&&&&02013597.&&&&&02,013,597	&&&&&&&&&&020273.&&&&&020,273	Ljubljana	7	.si
	Spain	Kingdom of Spain	01986-01-01 1 January 1986	&&&&&&&045116894.&&&&&045,116,894	&&&&&&&&&0506030.&&&&&0506,030	Madrid	54	.es
	Sweden	Kingdom of Sweden	01995-01-01 1 January 1995	&&&&&&&&09142817.&&&&&09,142,817	&&&&&&&&&0449964.&&&&&0449,964	Stockholm	19	.se
	United Kingdom	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	01973-01-01 1 January 1973	&&&&&&&060587300.&&&&&060,587,300	&&&&&&&&&0244820.&&&&&0244,820	London	78	.uk

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

• Countries bordering the European Union
• Enlargement of the European Union
• List of European Union member states by accession
• List of European Union member states by political system
• List of European Union member states by population
• List of European Union member states by Gross Domestic Product
• Special member state territories

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