European Union

Member states and enlargement

: Main articles: European Union member states, Enlargement of the European Union, Membership criteria.

Related Topics:
European Union member states - Enlargement of the European Union - Membership criteria

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The European Union has 25 member states, an area of 3,892,685 km² and approximately 460 million EU citizens as of December 2004. If it were a country, it would be the seventh largest in the world by area and the third largest by population after China and India.

Related Topics:
Km² - Seventh largest in the world - Third largest - China - India

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The European Union has land borders with 20 nations and sea borders with 31. See Countries bordering the European Union

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Since its inception with six countries, nineteen further states have joined in successive waves of enlargement:

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Note:

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• Greenland, which was granted home rule by Denmark in 1979, left the European Community in 1985, following a referendum.

Overseas territories

Several overseas territories and dependencies have close associations with particular EU member states, for example Greenland, the Isle of Man, the Azores and Madeira. For the status of these and other overseas territories in relation to the EU, see Special member state territories and their relations with the EU.

Related Topics:
Greenland - Isle of Man - Azores - Madeira - Special member state territories and their relations with the EU

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Future enlargement and close relationships

• Romania and Bulgaria are scheduled to become members on 1 January 2007, provided that they meet the conditions for membership and that the Treaty of Accession for the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania is ratified by parliaments of member states. The treaty was signed by representatives of the EU Member States at the Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg on 25 April 2005. As of 2005, member state parliaments are taking forward its ratification.
• Turkey is an official candidate to join the European Union. Turkish European ambitions date back to 1963 Ankara Agreements. Turkey started preliminary negotiations on 3 October 2005. However, analysts believe 2015 is the earliest date the country can join the union due to the plethora of economic and social reforms it has to complete. Since it has been granted official candidate status, Turkey has implemented permanent policies on human rights, abolished the death penalty, granted cultural rights to its large Kurdish minority, and taken positive steps to solve the Cyprus question. See Accession of Turkey to the European Union However, due to its religious and cultural differences, Turkey faces strong opposition from conservative and religious governments of the member states, mainly France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus and Slovenia.
• Croatia is currently the only other official candidate country, but negotiations had been postponed until full cooperation with the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague were certified by Carla del Ponte. The negotiations started on October 4, 2005.
• Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are not member states but have special agreements with the Union. See the third country relationships with the EU article
• Most European Free Trade Association members are parties to the EEA-treaty (which set up the European Economic Area), which means that they are participants in many aspects of the EU single market.

Context – rationale for enlargement and future prospects

Supporters of the European Union argue that the growth of the EU is a force for peace and democracy. They argue that the wars which were a periodic feature of the history of Western Europe have ceased since the formation of the European Economic Community (which later became the EU) in the 1950s. They also claim that in the early 1970s, Greece, Portugal and Spain were all dictatorships, but the desire of the business communities in these three countries to be in the EU created a strong impetus for democracy there. Others argue that peace in Europe since WW2 is more due to other causes, such as the need for a unified response to the threat from the Soviet Union, a need for reconstruction after WW2, and a collective temporary tiring of waging war, and that the dictatorships cited came to an end for totally different reasons.

Related Topics:
Peace - Democracy - Dictatorship - WW2

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In more recent times, the European Union has been extending its influence to the east. It has accepted several new members that were previously behind the Iron Curtain, and has plans to accept several more in the medium-term. It is hoped that in a similar fashion to the entry of Spain, Portugal and Greece in the 1980s, membership for these states will help cement economic and political stability.

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Further eastward expansion also has long-term economic benefits, but the remaining European countries are not viewed as currently suitable for membership, especially the troubled economies of countries further east. It is hoped by some that eventual membership of states that are currently politically unstable might help deal with tensions resulting from earlier conflicts such as the Yugoslav wars and the Cyprus dispute, and help avoid such conflict in the future.

Related Topics:
Yugoslav wars - Cyprus

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As the EU continues to enlarge eastward, the candidate countries' accessions tend to grow more controversial. As discussed, the EU has finished accession talks with Bulgaria and Romania, and set an entry date for the two countries in 2007. However, the rejection of the EU Constitution by France and the Netherlands, and the EU's slow economic growth, have cast some doubt on whether the EU will be ready to accept new members in 2007, despite the fact that both Bulgaria and Romania have signed Accession Treaties to join in 2007.

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A further point of contention for EU members is the accession of Turkey. Accession preliminary talks between Turkey and the EU are due to begin in early October 2005. Turkey's Government, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has enacted many legal reforms to meet the EU's entry requirements. However, some member states, especially Austria http://euobserver.com/9/19989 remain fearful of Turkey joining the EU, and the possible economic, immigration and cultural implications that may bring.

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