A Member State of the European Union is any one of the 27 sovereign states A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, unrecognised states will often find it hard to that have acceded to the European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 upon the foundations of the European Communities. With over 500 million citizens, the EU combined generated an estimated 28% share (US$ 16.5 (EU) since its inception in 1951 as the European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union. The ECSC was the first organisation to be based on the principles of supranationalism (ECSC). From an original membership of six states The Inner Six, or simply The Six, were the six founding member-states of the European Communities. This was in contrast to the outer seven who formed the European Free Trade Association rather than be involved in supranational European integration, there have been six successive enlargements Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community (the EU's predecessor) in 1952. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-seven with the most recent expansion to Bulgaria, the largest occurring on 1 May 2004, when ten states joined. The EU is currently composed of twenty republics A republic is a form of government in which at least a part of its people have some element of formal control over its government,, and in which the head of state is not a monarch The word "republic" is derived from the Latin phrase res publica, which can be translated as "a public affair", six kingdoms A monarchy is a form of government in which all political power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual or individuals. As a political entity, the monarch is the head of state, generally until their death or abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a, and one grand duchy A grand duchy is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess.

Bulgaria Bulgaria (pronounced /bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ Bulgarian: България, transliterated: Bulgaria, pronounced [bɤ̞lˈɡarijɐ]), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Република България, transliterated: Republika Bulgaria, [rɛˈpublikɐ bɤ̞lˈɡarijɐ]), is a country in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: and Romania Romania (pronounced /roʊˈmeɪniə/ roe-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Rumania, Roumania; Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta 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 European integration is the process of political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe. In the present day, European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and the Council of Europe. 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 The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a country is eligible to join the European Union. The criteria require that a state has the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, has a functioning market economy, and accepts the obligations and intent of the EU. These membership criteria were laid down at the. 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 The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht, the Netherlands after final negotiations on 9 December 1991 between the members of the European Community and entered into force on 1 November 1993 during the Delors Commission. It created the European Union and led to the creation of the euro. The Maastricht Treaty has been, enlargement of the Union is conditional upon the agreement of each existing Member State as well as approval by the European Parliament The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU). Together with the Council of the European Union (the Council), it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the EU and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world. The Parliament and Council form the highest.

Contents

List

Flag A flag is a piece of fabric, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used symbolically for signalling or identification. It is most commonly used to symbolize a country. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium Emb lem Common name Official name Accession Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community (the EU's predecessor) in 1952. Since then, the EU's membership has grown to twenty-seven with the most recent expansion to Bulgaria Population Area (km²) Capital Languages Special territories As of 2010, the European Union has 27 Member States, most of which participate in all EU policy areas and programmes or have signed up to do so. However, EU law does not always apply evenly to all territories of the Member States. Many Member States have special territories, which have differing relationships with their national governments—and
Austria Austria /ˈɒstriə/ or /ˈɔːstriə/ (German: Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Republik Österreich 01995-01-01 1 January 1995 8,372,930[2] 83,871 Vienna Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area,[citation needed] more than 25% of Austria's population), and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and German German (Deutsch, [ˈdɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Globally, German is spoken by approximately 120 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers –
Belgium Belgium (pronounced /ˈbɛldʒəm/ , BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a Koninkrijk België Royaume de Belgique Königreich Belgien 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 10,827,519[3] 30,528 Brussels Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] ; Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏsəl] (help·info)), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the de facto capital city of the European Union (EU) and the largest urban area in Flemish (Dutch) Flemish is derived from the name of the County of Flanders, from Middle Dutch vlāmisch, vlemesch. The name of the County of Flanders itself was first attested in Ghent, in 1237, and etymologically it derives from ‘Flandr’, which is Old Dutch roughly meaning ‘that which is flooded/flooded area’; compare Common Germanic *flōðuz, " French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in German German (Deutsch, [ˈdɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Globally, German is spoken by approximately 120 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers –
Bulgaria Bulgaria (pronounced /bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ Bulgarian: България, transliterated: Bulgaria, pronounced [bɤ̞lˈɡarijɐ]), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Република България, transliterated: Republika Bulgaria, [rɛˈpublikɐ bɤ̞lˈɡarijɐ]), is a country in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Република България 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 7,576,751[4] 110,910 Sofia Sofia (Bulgarian: София, pronounced [ˈsɔfija] ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city by population in the European Union, with 1.4 million people living in the Capital Municipality. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha, and is the administrative, cultural, economic, and educational Bulgarian Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group –
Cyprus Cyprus (pronounced /ˈsaɪprəs/ ; Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipros]; Turkish: Kıbrıs), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipriaˈci ðimokraˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti) is an Eurasian island country in the Eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 801,851[5] 9,251 Nicosia Nicosia , known locally as Lefkosia (Greek: Λευκωσία, Turkish: Lefkoşa), is the capital and largest city of both Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Located on the River Pedieos and situated almost in the centre of the island, it is the seat of government as well as the main business centre. Nicosia is the capital of the Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of Turkish Turkish (Türkçe IPA [ˈt̪yɾktʃe] ) is spoken as a first language by over 77 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other parts of Eastern 3 excluded excludes:
Czech Republic The Czech Republic (pronounced /ˈtʃɛk/ chek; Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] ( listen), short form Česko [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The Czech Republic has been a Česká republika 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 10,512,397[6] 78,866 Prague Prague (pronounced /ˈprɑːɡ/; Czech: Praha pronounced [ˈpraɦa] , see also other names) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included Praga mater urbium/Praha matka měst ("Prague – Mother of Cities") in Latin/Czech, Stověžatá Praha ("City of a Hundred Spires") in Czech or Czech Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian until the late 19th century in English. Czech is similar to and mutually intelligible with Slovak and, to a lesser extent, to Polish and Sorbian –
Denmark Denmark (pronounced /ˈdɛnmɑrk/ ; Danish: Danmark, pronounced [ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊], archaic: [ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊]) is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders Kongeriget Danmark 01973-01-01 1 January 1973 5,547,088[7] 43,094 Copenhagen Copenhagen ; Danish: København (pronounced [kʰøb̥ənˈhaʊ̯ˀn] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,181,239 (2010) and a metropolitan population of 1,894,521 (2010). Copenhagen is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager. With around 2.7 million inhabitants within a 50 km radius, Danish Danish (dansk, pronounced [d̥ænˀsɡ̊] ) is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages), a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 6 million people, mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany 2 excluded excludes:
Estonia Estonia /ɛsˈtoʊniə/ (Estonian: Eesti), officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a country in the Baltic Region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by the Russian Federation (338.6 km). The territory of Eesti Vabariik 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 1,340,274[8] 45,226 Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of 159.2 km2 with a population of 410,050. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki Estonian Estonian (eesti keel; pronounced [ˈeːsti ˈkeːl] ) is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities. It is a Uralic language and is closely related to Finnish –
Finland Finland (pronounced /ˈfɪnlənd/ ), officially the Republic of Finland Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info), is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden on the west, Norway on the north and Russia on the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland Suomen tasavalta Republiken Finland 01995-01-01 1 January 1995 5,350,475[9] 338,145 Helsinki Helsinki ( listen ; Swedish: Helsingfors, listen (help·info)) is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is 584,420 (31 March 2010), making it the most populous municipality in Finland by a wide margin. Helsinki Finnish Finnish ( suomi , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% as of 2006[update]) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken. The Kven Swedish Swedish ( svenska ) is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish (see especially "Classification"). Along 1 Includes:
France République française 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 64,709,480[10] 674,843 Paris French 6 + 6 excluded includes:
excludes:
Germany Bundesrepublik Deutschland 01957-03-25 25 March 1957[t 5] 81,757,595[11] 357,050 Berlin German –
Greece Ελληνική Δημοκρατία 01981-01-01 1 January 1981 11,125,179[12] 131,990 Athens Greek –
Hungary Magyar Köztársaság 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 10,013,628[13] 93,030 Budapest Hungarian –
Ireland Éire Ireland[t 6] 01973-01-01 1 January 1973 4,450,878[14] 70,273 Dublin Irish English –
Italy Repubblica italiana 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 60,397,353[15] 301,318 Rome Italian –
Latvia Latvijas Republika 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 2,248,961[16] 64,589 Riga Latvian –
Lithuania Lietuvos Respublika 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 3,329,227[17] 65,303 Vilnius Lithuanian –
Luxembourg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 502,207[18] 2,586 Luxembourg French German Luxembourgish –
Malta Repubblika ta' Malta Republic of Malta 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 416,333[19] 316 Valletta Maltese English –
Netherlands Koninkrijk der Nederlanden[t 7] 01957-03-25 25 March 1957 16,576,800[20] 41,526 Amsterdam[t 8] Dutch 2 excluded excludes:
Poland Rzeczpospolita Polska 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 38,163,895[21] 312,683 Warsaw Polish –
Portugal República Portuguesa 01986-01-01 1 January 1986 10,636,888[22] 92,391 Lisbon Portuguese –
Romania România[t 9] 02007-01-01 1 January 2007 21,466,174[23] 238,391 Bucharest Romanian –
Slovakia Slovenská republika 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 5,424,057[24] 49,037 Bratislava Slovakian –
Slovenia Republika Slovenija 02004-05-01 1 May 2004 2,054,119[25] 20,273 Ljubljana Slovenian –
Spain Reino de España 01986-01-01 1 January 1986 46,087,170[26] 506,030 Madrid Spanish –
Sweden Konungariket Sverige 01995-01-01 1 January 1995 9,347,899[27] 449,964 Stockholm Swedish –
United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 01973-01-01 1 January 1973 62,041,708[28] 244,820 London English 1 + 16 excluded includes:
excludes:
Notes
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Greenland left the European Community in 1985.
  4. ^ a b See Article 355(1) of the Treay on the Functioning of the European Union. [1]
  5. ^ On 01990-10-03 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.
  6. ^ Constitutional name of Ireland is Ireland, "Republic of" is only used to distinguish it from the north.
  7. ^ "Kingdom of the Netherlands" is correct. See this article. However, only Netherlands (i.e. the European part) is fully subject to EU law.
  8. ^ Amsterdam is the constitutional capital, however The Hague is the seat of government.
  9. ^ Official name is just Romania

Enlargement

Main article: Enlargement of the European Union Further information: Future enlargement of the European Union and Withdrawal from the European Union 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]

Political systems

Further information: List of European Union member states by political system

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.

Representation

European Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the European Union
Parliament
Jerzy Buzek
Joseph Daul: EPP
Martin Schulz: S&D
2009-14 term
Vice Presidents
Quaestor
Council of Ministers
Spain
  • Configurations:
General
Foreign
Economic
Euro
Pierre de Boissieu
European Council
Herman Van Rompuy
Commission
José M. Barroso
Catherine Ashton
Viviane Reding
Joaquín Almunia
Siim Kallas
Neelie Kroes
Antonio Tajani
Maroš Šefčovič
Catherine Day
Court of Justice
Other institutions
President
ESCB
Euro
EMU
Eurozone
Budget
OLAF
Policies and issues
Economic area
Single market
Area of FS&J
  • Policies
Agricultural
Energy
Fisheries
Regional
Identity
Pro-Europeanism
Euroscepticism
Supranationalism
Federalism
U.S.E.
Multi-speed
Opt-outs
Enhanced co-op
Withdrawal
Foreign relations
Catherine Ashton
Elections
EPP
PES
ELDR
Free Alliance
Greens
AEN
Left
Democratic
EUDemocrats
EPP
S&D
ALDE
G-EFA
ECR
EUL-NGL
EFD
Law
Rome 1957
Merger 1965
SEA 1986
Maastricht 1992
Amsterdam 1997
Nice 2001
Lisbon 2007

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.

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;

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. The Union can carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement Member States' actions.
  • the protection and improvement of human health
  • industry
  • culture
  • tourism
  • education, youth, sport and vocational training
  • civil protection (disaster prevention)
  • administrative cooperation

Related states

European Free Trade Association Council of Europe Switzerland Albania Croatia Liechtenstein Iceland Norway Armenia Schengen Area European Economic Area Azerbaijan Bosnia and Herzegovina Austria Germany Malta Georgia (country) Belgium Slovenia Greece Netherlands Cyprus Eurozone Moldova European Union Finland Italy Portugal Spain Sweden Republic of Ireland Montenegro France Slovakia Luxembourg Lithuania Republic of Macedonia Poland Hungary Bulgaria Denmark Russian Federation Czech Republic Romania Latvia Estonia Serbia United Kingdom Ukraine European Union Customs Union Monaco Turkey San Marino Andorra Vatican City International status and usage of the euro#States with issuing rights A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations.

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".

See also

Member states of the European Union

Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom
Member states by: political system · GDP

References

  1. ^ "Eurostat Population Estimate" (in English). Eurostat. 2010-01-01. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=tps00001&tableSelection=1&footnotes=yes&labeling=labels&plugin=1. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
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