Member state of the European Union

The European Union (EU) consists of 27 member states. Each member state is party to the founding treaties of the union and thereby shares in the privileges and obligations of membership. Unlike members of other international organisations, the member states of the EU have agreed by treaty to shared sovereignty through the institutions of the European Union in some (but by no means all) aspects of government. Member states must agree unanimously for the EU to adopt some policies; for others, collective decision making is by qualified majority voting. Subsidiarity, meaning that decisions are taken collectively if and only if they cannot realistically be taken individually, is a founding principle of the EU.

Member state of the European Union
Category	Member state
Location	European Union
Created	1952/1958/1993[note 1]
Number	27 (as of 2020)
Possible types	Republics (21) Monarchies (6)
Populations	447,206,135 (2020)[1]
Areas	4,233,255 km^2 (1,634,469 sq mi)
Government	Parliamentary representative democracy (23) Semi-presidential representative democracy (3) Presidential representative democracy (1)

In the 1950s, six core states founded the EU's predecessor European Communities (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany). The remaining states have acceded in subsequent enlargements. To accede, a state must fulfill the economic and political requirements known as the Copenhagen criteria, which require a candidate to have a democratic, free-market government together with the corresponding freedoms and institutions, and respect for the rule of law. Enlargement of the Union is also contingent upon the consent of all existing members and the candidate's adoption of the existing body of EU law, known as the acquis communautaire.

Until 2020, no member state had ever withdrawn or been suspended from the EU, though some dependent territories or semi-autonomous areas had previously left. The UK government invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union on 29 March 2017 to formally initiate the Brexit process. Completion occurred on 31 January 2020 (at 23:00 London time),[2] with all other arrangements remaining in place during a transition period while a free trade agreement is negotiated.

List

Name	Accession	Population	Area (km²)	GDP (US$M)	GDP per cap. (PPP)[3]	Currency	Gini	HDI	MEPs	Languages	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2	ISO 3166-1 alpha-3
Austria	1995	8,792,500[4]	83,855	437,582	53,558[5]	euro	29.1[6]	0.908[7]	18	German	AT	AUT
Belgium	1957Founder	11,365,834[4]	30,528	534,230	49,529[5]	euro	33.0[6]	0.916[7]	21	Dutch French German	BE	BEL
Bulgaria	2007	7,101,859[4]	110,994	55,824	24,595[5]	lev	29.2[6]	0.813[7]	17	Bulgarian	BG	BGR
Croatia	2013	4,154,213[4]	56,594	57,073	27,729[5]	kuna	29[6]	0.831[7]	11	Croatian	HR	HRV
Cyprus[lower-alpha 1]	2004	854,802[4]	9,251	23,263	41,407[5]	euro	31.2[6]	0.869[7]	6	Greek Turkish[lower-alpha 2]	CY	CYP
Czech Republic	2004	10,467,628[4]	78,866	205,270	38,834[5]	koruna	25.8[6]	0.888[7]	21	Czech[lower-alpha 3]	CZ	CZE
Denmark[lower-alpha 4]	1973	5,743,947[4]	43,075	342,362	53,882[5]	krone	24.7[6]	0.929[7]	13	Danish	DK	DNK
Estonia	2004	1,315,635[4]	45,227	26,506	35,853[5]	euro	36.0[6]	0.871[7]	6	Estonian	EE	EST
Finland[lower-alpha 5]	1995	5,577,282[4]	338,424	272,649	47,975[5]	euro	26.9[6]	0.920[7]	13	Finnish Swedish	FI	FIN
France[lower-alpha 6]	1957Founder	67,024,633[4]	632,833[8]	2,833,687	47,223[5]	euro	32.7[6]	0.901[7]	74	French	FR	FRA
Germany	1957Founder[lower-alpha 7]	83,149,300[4]	357,386	3,874,437	53,567[5]	euro	28.3[6]	0.936[7]	96	German	DE	DEU
Greece	1981	10,757,293[4]	131,990	237,970	30,252[5]	euro	34.3[6]	0.870[7]	21	Greek	GR	GRC
Hungary	2004	9,797,561[4]	93,030	136,989	34,047[5]	forint	30.0[6]	0.838[7]	21	Hungarian	HU	HUN
Ireland	1973	4,774,833[4]	70,273	250,814	83,399[5]	euro	34.3[6]	0.938[7]	11	English Irish	IE	IRL
Italy	1957Founder	61,219,113[4]	301,338	2,147,744	40,470[5]	euro	36.0[6]	0.880[7]	73	Italian	IT	ITA
Latvia	2004	1,950,116[4]	64,589	31,972	31,402[5]	euro	35.7[6]	0.847[7]	8	Latvian	LV	LVA
Lithuania	2004	2,847,904[4]	65,200	48,288	36,701[5]	euro	35.8[6]	0.858[7]	11	Lithuanian	LT	LTU
Luxembourg	1957Founder	589,370[4]	2,586.4	65,683	108,951[5]	euro	30.8[6]	0.904[7]	6	French German Luxembourgish[lower-alpha 8]	LU	LUX
Malta	2004	440,433[4]	316	10,514	47,405[5]	euro	25.8[6]	0.878[7]	6	Maltese English	MT	MLT
Netherlands[lower-alpha 9]	1957Founder	17,220,721[4]	41,543	880,716	58,341[5]	euro	30.9[6]	0.931[7]	26	Dutch Frisian[lower-alpha 10]	NL	NLD
Poland	2004	37,972,964[4]	312,685	547,894	33,891[5]	złoty	34.9[6]	0.865[7]	51	Polish	PL	POL
Portugal[lower-alpha 11]	1986	10,291,027[9]	92,212[10]	340,715[11]	33,665[5]	euro	32.1[12]	0.847[7]	21	Portuguese Mirandese	PT	PRT
Romania	2007	19,638,309[4]	238,391	199,093	27,998[5]	leu	31.5[6]	0.811[7]	32	Romanian	RO	ROU
Slovakia	2004	5,435,343[4]	49,035	99,869	36,640[5]	euro	25.8[6]	0.855[7]	13	Slovak	SK	SVK
Slovenia	2004	2,065,895[4]	20,273	49,570	38,462[5]	euro	31.2[6]	0.896[7]	8	Slovene	SI	SVN
Spain[lower-alpha 12]	1986	46,528,966[4]	504,030	1,406,538	41,592[5]	euro	32.0[6]	0.891[7]	54	Spanish Galician Catalan Occitan Basque[lower-alpha 13]	ES	ESP
Sweden	1995	10,080,000[4]	449,964	570,591	54,628[5]	krona	25.0[6]	0.933[7]	20	Swedish	SE	SWE
Totals/Averages	–	447,157,381	4,224,488.4	15,687,843	35,083	–	(avg) 30.8	(avg) 0.882	667	–	–	–

Notes

1. De facto (though not de jure) excludes the disputed territory of Northern Cyprus and the UN buffer zone. See: Cyprus dispute.
2. The Turkish language is not an official language of the European Union.
3. Officially recognised minority languages:
   • Slovak
   • German
   • Polish
   • Belarusian
   • Bulgarian
   • Croatian
   • Greek
   • Hungarian
   • Romani
   • Russian
   • Rusyn
   • Serbian
   • Ukrainian
   • Vietnamese
4. Excludes the autonomous regions of Greenland, which left the then-EEC in 1985, and the Faroe Islands.
5. Includes the Åland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland.
6. Includes the overseas regions of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, and the overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. Excludes the overseas collectivities of French Polynesia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna; the special collectivity of New Caledonia; Clipperton Island; and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
7. On 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.
8. The Luxembourgish language is not an official language of the European Union.
9. Excludes the three special municipalities of the Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba). Also excludes the three other constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten).
10. The Frisian language is not an official language of the European Union.
11. Includes the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira.
12. Includes the autonomous community of the Canary Islands; the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla; and the territories comprising the plazas de soberanía.
13. Basque, Catalan/Valencian, Occitan and Galician are co-official languages with Castilian Spanish in their respective territories, allowing their use in EU institutions under limited circumstances.[13]

Outermost regions

Further information: Special member state territories and the European Union

There are a number of overseas member state territories which are legally part of the EU, but have certain exemptions based on their remoteness. These "outermost regions" have partial application of EU law and in some cases are outside of Schengen or the EU VAT area—however they are legally within the EU.[14] They all use the euro as their currency.

Territory	Member State	Location	Area km^2	Population	Per capita GDP (EU=100)	EU VAT area	Schengen Area
Azores	Portugal	Atlantic Ocean	2,333	237,900	66.7	Yes	Yes
Canary Islands	Spain	Atlantic Ocean	7,447	1,715,700	93.7	No	Yes
French Guiana	France	South America	84,000	161,100	50.5	No	No
Guadeloupe	France	Caribbean	1,710	425,700	50.5	No	No
Madeira	Portugal	Atlantic Ocean	795	244,800	94.9	Yes	Yes
Saint-Martin	France	Caribbean	52	25,000	61.9	No	No
Martinique	France	Caribbean	1,080	383,300	75.6	No	No
Réunion	France	Indian Ocean	2,512	837,868	61.6	No	No
Mayotte[15]	France	Indian Ocean	374	212,645		No	No

Acronyms

Acronyms have been used as a shorthand way of grouping countries by their date of accession.

• EU15 includes the fifteen countries in the European Union from 1 January 1995 to 1 May 2004. The EU15 comprised Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom.[16] Eurostat still uses this expression.
• EU19 includes the countries in the EU15 as well as the central European member countries of the OECD: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovak Republic.[17]
• EU11 is used to refer to the Central, Eastern and Baltic European member states that joined in 2004, 2007 and 2013: in 2004 the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia; in 2007 Bulgaria, Romania; and in 2013 Croatia.[18][19]
• EU27 means all the member states. It was originally used in this sense from 2007 until Croatia's accession in 2013, and during the Brexit negotiations from 2017 until the United Kingdom's withdrawal on 31 January 2020 it came to mean all members except the UK.
• EU28 meant all the member states from the accession of Croatia in 2013 to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom in 2020.

Additionally, other acronyms have been used to refer to countries which have limited access to the EU labour market.[20]

• A8 is eight of the ten countries that joined the EU in 2004, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia, that have low income per capita
• A2 is the countries that joined the EU in 2007, Bulgaria and Romania.

Changes in membership

Accession

See also: Enlargement of the European Union, Future enlargement of the European Union, and Brexit

Member states of the European Union (dark blue) (1993-present). Pre-1993, the EU was known as the European Communities (sky blue). Animated in order of accession and secession.

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 switching to the euro.[21] For a state to join the European Union, the prior approval of all current member states is required. In addition to enlargement by adding new countries, the EU can also expand by having territories of member states, which are outside the EU, integrate more closely (for example in respect to the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles) or by a territory of a member state which had previously seceded and then rejoined (see withdrawal below).

Suspension

Main article: Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union

There is no provision to expel a member state, but TEU Article 7 provides for the suspension of certain rights. Introduced in the Treaty of Amsterdam, Article 7 outlines that if a member persistently breaches the EU's founding principles (liberty, democracy, human rights and so forth, outlined in TEU Article 2) then the European Council can vote to suspend any rights of membership, such as voting and representation. Identifying the breach requires unanimity (excluding the state concerned), but sanctions require only a qualified majority.[22]

The state in question would still be bound by the obligations treaties and the Council acting by majority may alter or lift such sanctions. The Treaty of Nice included a preventive mechanism whereby the Council, acting by majority, may identify a potential breach and make recommendations to the state to rectify it before action is taken against it as outlined above.[22] However, the treaties do not provide any mechanism to expel a member state outright.[23]

Secession

Main article: Withdrawal from the European Union

The Lisbon Treaty made the first provision of a member state to leave. The procedure for a state to leave is outlined in TEU Article 50 which also makes clear that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Although it calls for a negotiated withdrawal between the seceding state and the rest of the EU, if no agreement is reached two years after the seceding state notifying of its intention to leave, it would cease to be subject to the treaties anyway (thus ensuring a right to unilateral withdrawal).[23] There is no formal limit to how much time a member state can take between adopting a policy of withdrawal, and actually triggering Article 50.

In a non-binding referendum in June 2016—the result of which the government promised to implement—the United Kingdom voted to withdraw from the EU. The UK government triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017.[24] After an extended period of negotiation and internal political debate the United Kingdom eventually withdrew from the EU on 31st January 2020 concluding the first phase of the Brexit process.

Prior to 2016, no member state had ever voted to withdraw. However, French Algeria, Greenland and Saint-Barthélemy did cease being part of the EU (or its predecessor) in 1962, 1985, and 2012, respectively, due to status changes. The situation of Greenland being outside the EU while still subject to an EU member state had been discussed as a template for the pro-EU regions of the UK remaining within the EU or its single market.[25]

Beyond the formal withdrawal of a member state, there are a number of independence movements such as Catalonia or Flanders which could result in a similar situation to Greenland. Were a territory of a member state to secede but wish to remain in the EU, some scholars claim it would need to reapply to join as if it were a new country applying from scratch.[26] However, other studies claim internal enlargement is legally viable if, in case of a member state dissolution or secession, the resulting states are all considered successor states.[27] There is also a European Citizens' Initiative that aims at guaranteeing the continuity of rights and obligations of the European citizens belonging to a new state arising from the democratic secession of a European Union member state.[28]

As of February 2020 the United Kingdom is the only former member state to formally undertake the process of withdrawing from the European Union. This began when the UK Government triggered Article 50 to begin the UK's withdrawal from the EU on 29 March 2017 following a June 2016 referendum, and the withdrawal was scheduled in law to occur on 29 March 2019.[29] Subsequently, the UK sought, and was granted, a number of Article 50 extensions until 31 January 2020. On 23 January 2020, the Withdrawal agreement was ratified by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and on 29 January 2020 by the European Parliament. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 at 23:00 GMT ending 47 years of membership despite allegations of electoral misconduct during the referendum and repeated calls for a second referendum.[30][31]

Representation

A 2011 'family photo' of the European Council, which comprises the heads of state or government of the member states, along with President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission

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, qualified majority voting (which requires majorities both of the number of states and of the population they represent, but a sufficient blocking minority can veto the proposal). The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates among each of the member states, allowing each state six months to help direct the agenda of the EU.[32][33]

Similarly, each state is assigned seats in Parliament according to their population (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 that, they were seconded from national parliaments).[34][35]

The national governments appoint one member each to the European Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Auditors. Prospective Commissioners must be confirmed both by the President of the Commission and by the European Parliament; prospective justices must be confirmed by the existing members. 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 six largest states are also granted an Advocates General in the Court of Justice. Finally, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank includes the governors of the national central banks (who may or may not be government appointed) of each euro area country.[36]

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. This, together with the disproportionate representation of the smaller states in terms of votes and seats in parliament, gives the smaller EU states a greater power of influence than is normally attributed to a state of their size. However most negotiations are still dominated by the larger states. This has traditionally been largely through the "Franco-German motor" but Franco-German influence has diminished slightly following the influx of new members in 2004 (see G6).[37]

Sovereignty

Article 4

# In accordance with Article 5, competences not conferred upon the Union in the Treaties remain with the member states.

1. The Union shall respect the equality of member states before the Treaties as well as their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government. It shall respect their essential State functions, including ensuring the territorial integrity of the State, maintaining law and order and safeguarding national security. In particular, national security remains the sole responsibility of each member state.
2. Pursuant to the principle of sincere cooperation, the Union and the member states shall, in full mutual respect, assist each other in carrying out tasks which flow from the Treaties. The member states shall take any appropriate measure, general or particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaties or resulting from the acts of the institutions of the Union. The member states shall facilitate the achievement of the Union's tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the Union's objectives.

– Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union

While the member states are sovereign, the union partially follows a supranational system for those functions agreed by treaty to be shared. ("Competences not conferred upon the Union in the Treaties remain with the member states"). Previously limited to European Community matters, the practice, known as the 'community method', is currently used in many areas of policy. 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'. 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 contrast to other organisations, the EU's style of integration has "become a highly developed system for mutual interference in each other's domestic affairs".[38] However, on defence and foreign policy issues (and, pre-Lisbon Treaty, police and judicial matters) less sovereignty is transferred, with issues being dealt with by unanimity and co-operation. Very early on in the history of the EU, the unique state of its establishment and pooling of sovereignty was emphasised by the Court of Justice:[39]

By creating a Community of unlimited duration, having its own institutions, its own personality, its own legal capacity and capacity of representation on the international plane and, more particularly, real powers stemming from a limitation of sovereignty or a transfer of powers from the States to Community, the Member States have limited their sovereign rights and have thus created a body of law which binds both their nationals and themselves...The transfer by the States from their domestic legal system to the Community legal system of the rights and obligations arising under the Treaty carries with it a permanent limitation of their sovereign rights.

— European Court of Justice 1964, in reference to case of Costa v ENEL[40]

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 fully 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 follows. Every area not mentioned remains with member states.[41]

Competences

See also: subsidiarity

In EU terminology, the term 'competence' means 'authority or responsibility to act'. The table below shows which aspects of governance are exclusively for collective action (through the Commission) and which are shared to a greater or lesser extent. If an aspect is not listed in the table below, then it remains the exclusive competence of the member state. Perhaps the best known example is taxation, which remains a matter of national sovereignty.

Competences of the European Union in relation to those of its member states[42]

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 as to … the customs union the establishing of the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market monetary policy for the Member States whose currency is the euro the conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy Common Commercial Policy conclusion of certain international agreements	Member States cannot exercise competence in areas where the Union has done so, that is … the internal market social policy, for the aspects defined in this Treaty economic, social and territorial cohesion agriculture and fisheries, excluding the conservation of marine biological resources environment consumer protection transport trans-European networks energy the area of freedom, security and justice common safety concerns in public health matters, for the aspects defined in this Treaty	Union exercise of competence shall not result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs in … research, technological development and (outer) space development cooperation, humanitarian aid The Union coordinates Member States policies or implements supplemental to their common policies not covered elsewhere in … the coordination of economic, employment and social policies common foreign, security and defence policies	The Union can carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement Member States' actions in … the protection and improvement of human health industry culture tourism education, youth, sport and vocational training civil protection (disaster prevention) administrative cooperation

Conditional mutual support

As a result of the European sovereign debt crisis, some eurozone states were given a bailout from their fellow members via the European Financial Stability Facility and European Financial Stability Mechanism (replaced by the European Stability Mechanism from 2013), but this came with conditions. As a result of the Greek government-debt crisis, Greece accepted a large austerity plan including privatisations and a sell off of state assets in exchange for their bailout. To ensure that Greece complied with the conditions set by the European troika (ECB, IMF, Commission), a 'large-scale technical assistance' from the European Commission and other member states was deployed to Greek government ministries. Some, including the President of the Euro Group Jean-Claude Juncker, stated that "the sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited."[43][44][45] The situation of the bailed out countries (Greece, Portugal and Ireland) has been described as being a ward[46][47] or protectorate[45][48][49] of the EU with some such as the Netherlands calling for a formalisation of the situation.[50]

Multi-speed integration

See also: Multi-speed Europe

EU integration is not always symmetrical, with some states proceeding with integration ahead of hold-outs. This comes in two forms; a faster integrated core where some states forge ahead with a new project, and opt-outs where a few states are excused from normal integration. The notion of multi-speed integration is anathema to some, including President Juncker, who see it as divisive to the European project and others, such as the less-integrated states, who feel they would be left behind. It is however supported by others, such as President Macron, to move forward in integration faster.[51][52]

Enhanced cooperation

Main article: Enhanced cooperation

There are several different forms closer integration both within and outside the EU's normal framework. The main mechanism is enhanced cooperation where nine or more states can use EU structures progress in a field that not all states are willing to partake in. One example of this is the European Public Prosecutor.[53] A similar mechanism is Permanent Structured Cooperation in Defence, where the majority of EU states work in a flexible manner on defence cooperation. Other projects, such as the European Fiscal Compact, operate between EU members but as a separate intergovernmental treaty outside of the official EU structures.[54]

Opt-outs

Main article: Opt-outs in the European Union

A number of states are less integrated into the EU than others. In most cases this is because those states have gained an opt-out from a certain policy area. The most notable is the opt-out from the Economic and Monetary Union, the adoption of the euro as sole legal currency. Most states outside the Eurozone are obliged to adopt the euro when they are ready, but Denmark (and formerly the United Kingdom) has obtained the right to retain their own independent currency.

Ireland does not participate in the Schengen Agreement. Denmark has an opt out from the Common Security and Defence Policy; Denmark and Ireland have an opt-out on police and justice matters and Poland has an opt out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.[55]

Political systems

For a more comprehensive list, see List of European Union member states by political system.

  presidential republic

  semi-presidential republic

  parliamentary republic

  parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Entry to the EU is limited to liberal democracies and Freedom House ranks all EU states as being totally free electoral democracies.[56] All but 4 are ranked at the top 1.0 rating.[57] However, the exact political system of a state is not limited, with each state having its own system based on its historical evolution.

More than half of member states—15 out of 27—are parliamentary republics, while six states are constitutional monarchies, meaning they have a monarch although political powers are exercised by elected politicians. Most republics and all the monarchies operate a parliamentary system whereby the head of state (president or monarch) has a largely ceremonial role with reserve powers. That means most power is in the hands of what is called in most of those countries the prime minister, who is accountable to the national parliament. Of the remaining republics, five operate a semi-presidential system, where competencies are shared between the president and prime minister, while one republic operates a presidential system, where the president is head of state and government.

Parliamentary structure in member states varies: there are 15 unicameral national parliaments and 12 bicameral parliaments. The prime minister and government are usually directly accountable to the directly elected lower house and require its support to stay in office—the exceptions being Cyprus and France with their presidential systems. Upper houses are composed differently in different member states: it can be directly elected like the Polish senate; indirectly elected, for example, by regional legislatures like the Federal Council of Austria; or unelected, but representing certain interest groups like the National Council of Slovenia. All elections in member states use some form of proportional representation. The most common type of proportional representation is the party-list system.

There are also differences in the level of self-governance for the sub-regions of a member state. Most states, especially the smaller ones, are unitary states; meaning all major political power is concentrated at the national level. 9 states allocate power to more local levels of government. Austria, Belgium and Germany are full federations, meaning their regions have constitutional autonomies. Denmark, Finland, France and the Netherlands are federacies, meaning some regions have autonomy but most do not. Spain and Italy have system of devolution where regions have autonomy, but the national government retains the right to revoke it. \[58]

States such as France have a number of overseas territories, retained from their former empires.

Related states

A clickable Euler diagram showing the relationships between various multinational European organisations and agreements.

There are a number of countries with strong links with the EU, similar to elements of membership. Following Norway's decision not to join the EU, it remained one of the members of the European Economic Area (EEA) via the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which also includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Switzerland rejected membership of the EEA. 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 in drafting them).[59]

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 states. Indeed, the state's flag resembles the EU's flag according to some observers.[60]

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.[61] Like Bosnia, Kosovo has been termed an "EU protectorate".[62][63][64]

However, there is also the largely defunct term of associate member. It has occasionally been applied to states that 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, implying that Turkey became an associate member that year.[65][66] Present association agreements include the Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the western Balkans; these states are no longer termed "associate members".

The United Kingdom's future relationship and agreements with the rest of the European Union is yet to be officially decided, with a current deadline of 31 December 2020, the date for new post Brexit relations to be reached. For the rest of 2020 (following The UK's departure on 31 January 2020), the United Kingdom will remain in the EU Customs Union and single market, however the British government have insisted that they do not wish to remain in either after 2020, and hope for a more distant future relationship.[67]

See also

• History of the European Union, 1973–2013 enlargement and Future enlargement
• Currencies of the European Union
• Economy of the European Union
• Special Member State territories
• EU relationships with Europe's Microstates
• EU integration with the EFTA States

Notes

1. The first states first formed the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and then created the parallel European Economic Community in 1958. Although the latter was later, it is more often considered the immediate predecessor to the EU. The former has always shared the same membership and has since been absorbed by the EU, which was formally established in 1993.

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External links

• Member states – Europa