Member state of the European Union

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Member states of the European Union
About this image
Category Sovereign states[1]
Location European Union
Created 1952/1958[2]
Number 28 (as of 2015)
Possible types Republics (21)
Monarchies (7)
Populations 508,191,116 (2015)[3]
Areas 4,381,376 km²
Government Parliamentary representative democracy (24)
Semi-presidential representative democracy (3)
Presidential representative democracy (1)

The European Union (EU) comprises 28 member states. Each member state is party to the founding treaties of the union and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. Unlike members of most international organisations, the member states of the EU are subjected to binding laws in exchange for representation within the common legislative and judicial institutions. Member states must agree unanimously for the EU to adopt policies concerning defence and foreign affairs.[4] Subsidiarity is a founding principle of the EU.

In 1957 six core states founded the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany). The remaining states have acceded in subsequent enlargements. On 1 July 2013 Croatia became the newest member state of the EU. In order 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.

There is disparity in the size, wealth and political system of member states, but all have equal rights. While in some areas majority voting takes place where larger states have more votes than smaller ones, smaller states have disproportional representation compared to their population. No member state has withdrawn or been suspended from the EU, though some dependent territories or semi-autonomous areas have left. In June 2016 the UK voted to leave the EU and in July 2016 the UK government confirmed it will conduct the UK exit, colloquially known as Brexit.


Country name Arms Flag Capital Accession
Area (km²)
GDP (Millions of US$) GDP per cap.
Languages Territories
Austria Austria coat of arms official.svg Austria Vienna 1995 8,581,500[6] 83,855 437,582 47,031[7] euro 29.1[8] 0.895[9] 10 18 German
Belgium Royal Arms of Belgium.svg Belgium Brussels 1957Founder 11,258,434[6] 30,528 534,230 43,800[7] euro 33.0[8] 0.897[9] 12 21 Dutch
Bulgaria Coat of arms of Bulgaria (version by constitution).svg Bulgaria Sofia 2007 7,202,198[6] 110,994 55,824 18,326[7] lev 29.2[8] 0.782[9] 10 17 Bulgarian
Croatia Croatia, Historic Coat of Arms, first red square.svg Croatia Zagreb 2013 4,225,316[6] 56,594 57,073 21,169[7] kuna 29[8] 0.805[9] 7 11 Croatian
Cyprus Lesser coat of arms of Cyprus.svg Cyprus Nicosia 2004 847,008[6] 9,251 23,263 30,769[7] euro 31.2[8] 0.848[9] 4 6 Greek
Czech Republic Small coat of arms of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Prague 2004 10,419,743[6] 78,866 205,270 30,895[7] koruna 25.8[8] 0.873[9] 12 21 Czech [d]
Denmark National Coat of arms of Denmark no crown.svg Denmark Copenhagen 1973 5,653,357[6] 43,075 342,362 45,451[7] krone 24.7[8] 0.901[9] 7 13 Danish
Estonia Small coat of arms of Estonia.svg Estonia Tallinn 2004 1,313,271[6] 45,227 26,506 27,994[7] euro 36.0[8] 0.846[9] 4 6 Estonian
Finland Coat of arms of Finland.svg Finland Helsinki 1995 5,471,753[6] 338,424 272,649 40,838[7] euro 26.9[8] 0.892[9] 7 13 Finnish
France Armoiries république française.svg France Paris 1957Founder 66,352,469[6] 643,801 2,833,687 41,018[7] euro 32.7[8] 0.893[9] 29 74 French
Germany Coat of arms of Germany.svg Germany Berlin 1957Founder[g] 81,089,331[6] 357,021 3,874,437 46,895[7] euro 28.3[8] 0.920[9] 29 96 German
Greece Lesser coat of arms of Greece.svg Greece Athens 1981 10,846,979[6] 131,990 237,970 26,773[7] euro 34.3[8] 0.860[9] 12 21 Greek
Hungary Arms of Hungary.svg Hungary Budapest 2004 9,855,571[6] 93,030 136,989 25,895[7] forint 30.0[8] 0.831[9] 12 21 Hungarian
Ireland Coat of arms of Ireland.svg Republic of Ireland Dublin 1973 4,625,885[6] 70,273 250,814 51,118[7] euro 34.3[8] 0.916[9] 7 11 Irish
Italy Emblem of Italy.svg Italy Rome 1957Founder 61,438,480[6] 301,338 2,147,744 35,811[7] euro 36.0[8] 0.881[9] 29 73 Italian
Latvia Arms of Latvia.svg Latvia Riga 2004 1,986,096[6] 64,589 31,972 24,540[7] euro 35.7[8] 0.814[9] 4 8 Latvian
Lithuania Coat of arms of Lithuania.svg Lithuania Vilnius 2004 2,921,262[6] 65,200 48,288 28,210[7] euro 35.8[8] 0.818[9] 7 11 Lithuanian
Luxembourg Arms of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg Luxembourg 1957Founder 562,958[6] 2,586.4 65,683 93,173[7] euro 30.8[8] 0.875[9] 4 6 French
Malta Arms of Malta.svg Malta Valletta 2004 429,344[6] 316 10,514 34,544[7] euro 25.8[8] 0.847[9] 3 6 Maltese
Netherlands Royal Arms of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Amsterdam 1957Founder 17,155,169[6] 41,543 880,716 48,317[7] euro 30.9[8] 0.921[9] 13 26 Dutch
Poland Herb Polski.svg Poland Warsaw 2004 38,005,614[6] 312,685 547,894 26,210[7] złoty 34.9[8] 0.821[9] 27 51 Polish
Portugal Shield of the Kingdom of Portugal (1481-1910).png Portugal Lisbon 1986 10,374,822[6] 92,390 229,948 27,624[7] euro 38.5[8] 0.816[9] 12 21 Portuguese
Romania Coat of arms of Romania.svg Romania Bucharest 2007 19,861,408[6] 238,391 199,093 20,526[7] leu 31.5[8] 0.786[9] 14 32 Romanian
Slovakia Coat of arms of Slovakia.svg Slovakia Bratislava 2004 5,403,134[6] 49,035 99,869 29,209[7] euro 25.8[8] 0.840[9] 7 13 Slovak
Slovenia Coat of arms of Slovenia.svg Slovenia Ljubljana 2004 2,062,874[6] 20,273 49,570 30,508[7] euro 31.2[8] 0.892[9] 4 8 Slovene
Spain Arms of Spain.svg Spain Madrid 1986 46,439,864[6] 504,030 1,406,538 34,899[7] euro 32.0[8] 0.885[9] 27 54 Spanish[i]
Sweden Shield of arms of Sweden.svg Sweden Stockholm 1995 9,790,000[6] 449,964 570,591 47,228[7] krona 25.0[8] 0.916[9] 10 20 Swedish
United Kingdom[j] Arms of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom London 1973 64,767,115[6] 243,610 2,950,039 40,676[7] pound sterling 36.0[8] 0.875[9] 29 73 English
  1. ^ The Turkish language is not an official language of the European Union.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Officially recognized minority languages:
  5. ^ Greenland left the then-EEC in 1985.
  6. ^ a b See Article 355(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.[1]
  9. ^ Co-official languages in their respective territories are Basque, Catalan/Valencian and Galician. Unlike other regional languages, an agreement between Spain and the Council of the European Union means these are allowed to be used in EU institutions. However, none of these languages are official languages of the European Union.
  10. ^ The result of a British referendum on 23 June 2016 was a majority in favour of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. Legally, the referendum was advisory rather than binding, and no formal process for leaving has been initiated.[10]



Enlargement is, and has been, a principal feature of the Union's political landscape.[11] The EU's predecessors were founded by the "Inner Six", those countries willing to forge ahead with the Community while others remained skeptical. It was only a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, which led to the first skepticism 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 Georges Pompidou took place that the United Kingdom's third application succeeded in 1970.[12][13][14]

Applying in 1969 were the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Norway. Norway, however, declined to accept the invitation to become a member when the electorate voted against it,[15][16] leaving just the UK, Ireland and Denmark to join.[17] But despite the setbacks, and the withdrawal of Greenland from Denmark's membership in 1985,[18] three more countries joined the Communities before the end of the Cold War.[17] In 1987, the geographical extent of the project was tested when Morocco applied, and was rejected as it was not considered a European country.[19]

The year 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,[17] though Switzerland, which applied in 1992, froze its application due to opposition from voters[20] while Norway, which had applied once more, had its voters reject membership again.[21] Meanwhile, the members of the former Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia were all starting to move towards EU membership. Ten of these joined in a major enlargement on 1 May 2004 symbolising the unification of East and Western Europe in the EU.[22] Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007.

European Union
Flag of the European Union

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government
of the European Union

The year 2013 saw the latest member, Croatia, accede to the Union, and the EU has prioritised membership for the rest of the Balkans - namely Western Balkans. Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey are all formal, acknowledged candidates. Turkish membership, pending since the 1980s, is a more contentious issue but it entered negotiations in 2005.[23]

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.[24] 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).

In order to join the European Union, it is required for all member states to agree; if a single member state disagrees, the applying country is declined acceptance to the European Union.


The flags of the EU and the then-25 member states seen outside the European Parliament in 2004

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.[25][26]

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 that, they were seconded from national parliaments).[27][28]

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 European 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 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.[29]



Article 4
- Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union

While the member states are sovereign, the union partially follows a supranational system that is comparable to federalism. Previously limited to European Community matters, the practice, known as the "community method", is currently used in most 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".[31] Those institutions are then empowered to make laws and execute them at a European level.


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".[32] 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 cooperation. 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:[33]



Yet, 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 the potentially negative impact of a specific law.

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.[citation needed]

Exclusive competence
Shared competence
Supporting competence
  • research, technological development and (outer) space
  • development cooperation, humanitarian aid
  • the protection and improvement of human health
  • industry
  • culture
  • tourism
  • education, youth, sport and vocational training
  • civil protection (disaster prevention)
  • administrative cooperation

As a result of the European sovereign debt crisis, some eurozone states required a bailout from the EU via the European Financial Stability Facility and European Financial Stability Mechanism (to be replaced by the European Stability Mechanism from 2013). In exchange for their bailout, Greece was required to accept a large austerity plan including privatisations and a sell off of state assets. In order to ensure that Greece complies with the EU's demands, a "large-scale technical assistance" from the European Commission and other member states has been deployed to Greek government ministries. Some, including the President of the Euro Group Jean-Claude Juncker, state that "the sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited."[34][35][36] The situation of the bailed out countries (Greece, Portugal and Ireland) has been described as being a ward[37][38][39] or protectorate[36][40][41] of the EU with some such as the Netherlands calling for a formalisation of the situation.[42]



Ireland and the United Kingdom also do not participate in the Schengen Agreement, which eliminates internal EU border checks. Denmark has an opt out from the Common Security and Defence Policy; Denmark, Ireland and the UK have an opt-out on police and justice matters and Poland and the UK have an opt out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Outermost regions[edit]

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.[43] They all use the euro as their currency.

Territory Member State Location Area
Population Per capita GDP
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[44]  France Indian Ocean 374 212,645 No No

Political systems[edit]

Entry to the EU is limited to liberal democracies and Freedom House ranks all EU states as being totally free electoral democracies. All but 4 are ranked at the top 1.0 rating.[45] However, the exact political system of a state is not limited, with each state having its own system based on its historical evolution.

The majority of member states—17 out of 28—are parliamentary republics, while seven 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, three 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.[citation needed]

The EU is divided between unicameral (single chamber) and bicameral (dual chamber) parliaments, with 15 unicameral national parliaments and 13 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 exception being Cyprus with its presidential system. 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, unelected, but representing certain interest groups like the National Council of Slovenia, unelected (though by and large appointed by elected officials) as a remnant of a non-democratic political system in earlier times (as in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom). Most (though not all) elections in the EU use some form of proportional representation. The most common type of proportional representation is the party-list system.[citation needed]

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. 10 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, the Netherlands, and Portugal 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. The United Kingdom has a mixture of federacy and devolution as only some of its regions enjoy a system of devolution while others are ruled directly from the national government.[citation needed]

States such as France have a number of overseas territories, retained from their former empires. Some of these territories such as French Guiana are part of the EU (see outermost regions, above) while others are related to the EU or outside it, such as the Falkland Islands.[citation needed]


See also: Brexit


In a non-binding referendum in June 2016 the United Kingdom voted to withdraw the EU. Termed "Brexit", this has become government policy under Prime Minister Theresa May. However, as of October 2016, the UK has not triggered Article 50. Theresa May has indicated that she intends to trigger it by the end of March 2016.[47] Once triggered, formal talks could begin but there is no certainty of a deal and some EU officials are preparing to deal with a situation where no deal is reached after the two years.[48]

Prior to 2016, no member state had ever voted to withdraw. However Greenland, as a territory, did leave the EU in 1985 when gaining home rule from a member state (Denmark). 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.[49]

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.[50] 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.[51] There is also an 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.[52]


TEU Article 7 provides for the suspension of certain rights of a member state. 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 as outlined above. Identifying the breach requires unanimity (excluding the state concerned), but sanctions require only a qualified majority.[53]

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 preventative 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.[53] However the treaties do not provide any mechanism to expel a member state outright.[46]

Related states[edit]


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 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 in drafting them).[54]


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.[56] Like Bosnia, Kosovo has been termed an "EU protectorate".[57][58][59]

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, implying that Turkey became an associate member that year.[60][61] Present association agreements include the Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the western Balkans; these states are no longer termed "associate members".

See also[edit]


  1. ^ See section on sovereignty for details on the extent to which sovereignty is shared.
  3. ^ "Eurostat - Population on 1 January 2015". European Commission. Retrieved 20 August 2015. 
  4. ^ EU foreign policy is agreed case by case where every member state agrees to a common position. Thus a member state can veto a foreign policy it does not agree with and agreed policy tends to be lose and infrequent.
  5. ^ at purchasing power parity, per capita, in international dollars (rounded)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Council Decision of 8 December 2015 ([2]).
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index". HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 20 July 2013. 
  10. ^ Green, David Allen (14 June 2016). "Can the United Kingdom government legally disregard a vote for Brexit?". Retrieved 25 June 2016. The relevant legislation did not provide for the referendum result to have any formal trigger effect. The referendum is advisory rather than mandatory. ... invoking Article 50 is a legally distinct step from the referendum result — it is not an obligation. 
  11. ^ European Commission (18 January 2016). "EU by topic: Enlargement". Retrieved 11 March 2016. 
  12. ^ "Britain shut out". BBC News. 2002. Retrieved 25 August 2008. 
  13. ^ "1971 Year in Review". 
  14. ^ "Ever closer union: joining the Community". BBC. 
  15. ^ European Commission (10 November 2005). "The History of the European Union: 1972". Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2006. 
  16. ^ "Norway Has Rejected the EU But Cannot Ignore It". 
  17. ^ a b c "A short history of the European Union". EURAC Research. 29 May 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2008. 
  18. ^ European Commission (10 November 2005). "1985". The History of the European Union. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2006. 
  19. ^ "W. Europe Bloc Bars Morocco as a Member". Los Angeles Times. 21 July 1987. Retrieved 25 August 2008. 
  20. ^ British Embassy, Bern (4 July 2006). "EU and Switzerland". The UK & Switzerland. Retrieved 4 July 2006. 
  21. ^ European Commission (10 November 2005). "The History of the European Union: 1994". Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 18 January 2006. 
  22. ^ "History of the European Union". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 25 August 2008. 
  23. ^ "Q&A: Turkey's EU entry talks". BBC News. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2008. 
  24. ^ "Accession criteria". Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008. 
  25. ^ "The presidency of the Council of the EU". The Council of the EU. 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016. The presidency of the Council rotates among the EU member states every 6 months 
  27. ^ "The European Parliament: Historical Background". Retrieved 14 May 2016. 
  29. ^ "Governing Council". European Central Bank. Retrieved 14 May 2016. 
  31. ^ "". 
  32. ^ Cooper, Robert (7 April 2002) Why we still need empires, The Guardian (London)
  33. ^ ECJ opinion on Costa vs ENEL Eur-Lex
  35. ^ Mahony, Honor (4 July 2011) Greece faces 'massive' loss of sovereignty, EUobserver
  36. ^ a b Athens becomes EU 'protectorate' To Ethnos via PressEurop 4 July 2011
  37. ^ Fitzgerald, Kyran (15 October 2011) Reform agenda’s leading light, Irish Examiner
  38. ^ Irish meltdown, Financial Times (23 January 2011)
  39. ^ Coy, Peter (13 January 2011) If Demography Is Destiny, Then India Has the Edge, Bloomberg
  40. ^ Mahler et al (2 September 2010) How Brussels Is Trying to Prevent a Collapse of the Euro, Der Spiegel
  41. ^ The Economic Protectorate, Open Europe (4 February 2010)
  42. ^ Leigh, Phillips (7 September 2011) [3], EU Observer
  43. ^ Regional policy & outermost regions, European Commission
  44. ^ "Council Directive 2013/61/EU of December 2013" (PDF). 17 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014. 
  45. ^ "Map of Freedom in the World 2011 Edition".  - "Combined Average Ratings – Independent Countries" (PDF). Freedom House. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  47. ^ Theresa May to trigger article 50 by end of March 2017, the Guardian, 2 October 2016
  48. ^ EU set for ‘dirty Brexit’ Politico 24 October 2016
  49. ^ Could a ‘reverse Greenland’ arrangement keep Scotland and Northern Ireland in the EU?, London School of Economics 7 July 2016
  51. ^ The Internal Enlargement of the European Union, Centre Maurits Coppieters Foundation [4] (PDF)
  52. ^ European Citizens' Initiative for EU Internal Enlargement
  53. ^ a b Suspension clause, Europa glossary. Retrieved 1 June 2010
  54. ^ Ekman, Ivar (27 October 2007). "In Norway, EU pros and cons (the cons still win)". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 30 August 2008. 
  55. ^ Chandler, David (20 April 2006). "Bosnia: whose state is it anyway?". Spiked Politics. Retrieved 30 August 2008. 
  56. ^ Kurti, Albin (2 September 2009). "Comment: Causing damage in Kosovo". EUobserver. Retrieved 2 September 2009. 
  57. ^ Judah, Tim (18 February 2008) Kosovo: the era of the EU protectorate dawns, European Union Institute for Security Studies
  58. ^ 'Kosovo Is not Independent, It Is an EU Protectorate', Der Spiegel (19 February 2008)
  59. ^ Independence day, The Economist (17 February 2008)
  60. ^ "EU-Turkey relations". EurActiv. 14 November 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2010. 
  61. ^ "Turkey's Tigers, Report Card: Turkey and EU Membership?: Introduction". Public Broadcasting Service. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2010. 

External links[edit]