Enlargement of the European Union

From Wikinfo

Jump to: navigation, search


The European Union originally consisted of 6 member states. It has since grown to 15 member states, and several more states plan to join: 10 new members in 2004, 2 new members in 2007, and possibly more after that. In order to join the Union, a state needs to fulfil the economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhagen criteria.

Contents

Summary of past enlargements

File:Crude-EU15.png

For details see History of the European Union.



Existing members of the EU-15
Country Pop Area GDP GDP per capita
Austria 8.2 83858 227.7 27900
Belgium 10.3 30510 299.7 29200
Denmark 5.4 43094 155.3 28900
Finland 5.2 337030 133.8 25800
France 60.2 547030 1558 26000
Germany 82.4 357021 2160 26200
Greece 10.7 131940 203.3 19100
Ireland 3.9 70280 113.7 29300
Italy 58.0 301320 1455 25100
Luxembourg 0.5 2586 21.9 48900
Netherlands 16.2 41526 437.8 27200
Portugal 10.1 92931 195.2 19400
Spain 40.2 504782 850.7 21200
Sweden 8.9 449964 230.7 26000
United Kingdom 60.1 244820 1528 25500
Subtotal (EU-15) 380.3 3238692 9570.8 25166

Notes (for this and later tables):

  • Pop is population in millions
  • Area is in km²
  • GDP in billions of USD, at purchasing power parity, 2001 figures
  • GDP per cap is per capita GDP in USD, year as in previous column

The 2004 enlargement

File:Crude-EU25.png

The European Commission's Strategic Report of October 9, 2002 recommended 10 candidate members for inclusion in the EU in 2004: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus. Their combined population is roughly 75 million; their combined Gross Domestic Product is about 840 billion US dollars (purchasing power parity; CIA World Factbook 2003), similar in size to that of Spain.

After negotiations between the candidates and the member states, the final decision to invite these nations to join was announced on December 13, 2002 in Copenhagen, with the European Parliament voting in favour of this on April 9, 2003.

On April 16, 2003 the Treaty of Accession was signed by the 10 new members and the 15 old ones in Athens [1].

(The Treaty's full name is: Treaty between the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Member States of the European Union) and the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, concerning the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union.)

The final remaining step was the ratification of the treaty by the current member states and by each of the candidate nations. Ratification in the former was done by the parliaments of the member states alone, whereas in the latter the ratification was first subject to a referendum, except for Cyprus where the parliament was solely responsible. The 2003 referenda dates (in four of the countries, a two-day ballot is held), and the outcomes in each of the candidate countries, are as follows:

In the event that one of the referenda did not return an affirmative result, provision had been made for the enlargement to carry on without that country. Now that the referenda have turned out in favour of joining, ratification is expected to proceed without further problems and the candidate countries will become full members of the EU on May 1, 2004.

2004 enlargement
Country Pop Area GDP GDP per capita
Estonia 1.4 45226 15.5 11000
Latvia 2.3 64589 21.0 8900
Lithuania 3.5 65200 30.0 8400
Poland 38.6 312685 373.2 9700
Czech Republic 10.2 78866 157.1 15300
Hungary 10.0 93030 134.0 13300
Slovakia 5.4 48845 67.3 12400
Slovenia 1.9 20253 37.1 19200
Malta 0.4 316 6.8 17200
Cyprus 0.8 9250 9.4 15000
Subtotal 74.6 738260 851.4 11413
EU-15 380.3 3238692 9570.8 25166
EU-25 454.9 3976952 10422.2 22911


The 2007 enlargement

File:Crude-EU27.png Bulgaria and Romania have been recommended to join the EU on January 1, 2007, and these dates have been firmly set at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003.

2007 enlargement
Country Pop Area GDP GDP per capita
Bulgaria 7.5 110910 49.2 6500
Romania 22.3 238391 169.3 7600
Subtotal 29.8 349301 218.5 7332
Incl. 2004 104.4 1087561 1069.6 10245
EU-27 484.7 4326253 10640.7 21953

Planned further enlargement

Possible enlargement past 2007
Country Pop Area GDP GDP per capita
Turkey 68.1 780580 489.7 7300
Croatia 4.4 56542 43.1 9800
Macedonia 2.0 25333 10.6 5100
Subtotal 74.5 862455 543.4 7294
Total 178.9 1950016 1613.0 9016
EU-30 559.2 5188788 11184.1 20000

Source: CIA World Factbook 2003

Turkey

Turkey was officially recognised as a candidate for enlargement in 1999, after having been an Associate Member since 1963, but it has not yet been permitted to start negotiations due to concerns about its human rights record and about the involvement of the military in Turkish politics. It is however encouraged to continue its reform process.

Critics oppose Turkish membership for several reasons, including that most of Turkey's territory is not European but Asian, and human rights issues. A prevalent point of view in Turkey is that some in the EU are reluctant to accept a Muslim state, albeit a strongly secular one, into what is seen by some as a Christian club. Proponents answer that Turkey has been intimately involved in European history for about 500 years and that it considers itself a European state.

Croatia

Croatia applied for EU membership in 2003 and is in the process of becoming an official candidate. The announcement on whether Croatia will be granted official candidate status is set to come in early 2004.

FYRO Macedonia

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has also announced its desire to join the EU, applying to become an official candidate in January 2004. It is expected to get its official reply in 2005 on whether the EU will start accession negotiations with it.

The FYROM also must resolve its disputes with Greece before talks can begin.

Other enlargement possibilities

Switzerland

Switzerland began talks with the EEC for membership, but a Swiss referendum in 1992 froze them. Further referenda (the last on March 4, 2001) have shown a majority against membership. It is thought that the fear of a loss of neutrality and independence is the key issue against membership. The Swiss federal goverment policy for now is to close specific agreements with the EU on freedom of movement for people and workers [2].

Iceland and Norway

Both Iceland and Norway are reluctant to join because they want to keep control of fishery resources in their territorial waters. While Norway has applied twice for EEC and EU membership (and two referenda on the issue have been lost), Iceland has not.

Rest of ex-Yugoslavian countries and Albania

The remainder of the nations created from former Yugoslavia and also Albania might join before 2020, if their economies improve and the ethnic strife subsides; in these countries many political leaders advocate joining.

Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine

It is generally thought that Russia will be unable to join, at least during the next few decades, since its sheer size would severely offset the internal balance of the Union. Belarus, Moldova and the Ukraine, which are closely linked to Russia, will probably also remain outside the Union, at least for the next couple of decades.

Microstates

As for the very small states, such as Liechtenstein, San Marino, Andorra, Vatican City and Monaco, it is unlikely that they will ever join, as their very existence as sovereign nations is tightly bound up with their special economic laws, which are not compatible with EU standards.

Tunisia

Tunisia entered into an Association Agreement with the European Union in 1995 which started removing tariffs and other trade barriers on most goods in the 1998-2008 period. Once the free trade area is fully functional, the status of Tunisia with regards to the EU will equal the present status of Norway and Iceland. However, no further involvement is planned beyond that point.

Morocco

Morocco has submitted applications to join the EU several times, but it has been turned down since it is not considered a European country. Even if this obstacle was ignored, other factors such as the developing economy or unresolved border issues with several of its neighbours would still hinder its application.

Israel

The Israeli government has hinted several times that a EU membership bid is not discardable. It is unknown whether talks will begin, given the current status of instability in the Middle East.

As in the cases of Turkey and Morocco, the virtue of being in Asia geographically rather than Europe might preclude its inclusion into the EU as well.

Miscellaneous

Sealand

The legal status of Sealand is unknown. However, no EU member state recognises Sealand as an independent nation, therefore, not being an eligible candidate anytime soon..

Sovereign Order of Malta

Although a recognized sovereign subject of international law, its precise nature (i.e. the question of statehood) is disputed.


External link

Template:EU countries[[fr:�largissement de l'Union europ�enne]]


References

Retrieved from "http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union"
Personal tools
In other languages