European Union member states
Current members There are currently 25 member states in the European Union. Together with their dates of accession, these are: - Austria (1995)
- Belgium (founding member: 1952/58)
- Cyprus (2004)
- Czech Republic (2004)
- Denmark (1973)
- Estonia (2004)
- Finland (1995)
- France (founding member: 1952/58)
- Germany (founding member: 1952/58)
- Greece (1981)
- Hungary (2004)
- Ireland (1973)
- Italy (founding member: 1952/58)
- Latvia (2004)
- Lithuania (2004)
- Luxembourg (founding member: 1952/58)
- Malta (2004)
- The Netherlands (founding member: 1952/58)
- Poland (2004)
- Portugal (1986)
- Slovakia (2004)
- Slovenia (2004)
- Spain (1986)
- Sweden (1995)
- United Kingdom (1973)
Future and prospective members
Main article: Enlargement of the European Union
Acceding nations Acceding countries (with year of submitting and accession): - 1995, Bulgaria, completed negotiations, set for membership in 2007.
- 1995, Romania, completed negotiations, set for membership in 2007.
Candidate nations The following states have submitted applications for EU membership (with year of submitting): - 1987, Turkey, expected to start negotiations in October 2005. (EU-Turkey Customs Union is in force since 1995)
- 2003, Croatia, was set to start negotiations in March 2005, but they have been postponed.
- 2004, Republic of Macedonia, currently in procedure to be recognized as a candidate country by EU institutions.
Other nations - Technically speaking, Switzerland also has a long-standing EU membership application, but the country has shown no interest in furthering the application, so it has been left to 'lie on the table'.
- Norway has previously submitted applications, but twice rejected membership in referenda.
Special member state territories - For information about EU territories and dependents outside continental Europe, see Special member state territories and their relations with the EU.
Maps
European Commission maps of the EU are available: [1],
See also - List of European Union pages
- European Union Statistics
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