A
Member State of the European Union is any one of the 27
sovereign states that have acceded to the
European Union (EU) since its
de facto inception in 1951 as the
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). From an original
membership of six states, there have been six successive
enlargements, the largest occurring on 1 May 2004, when ten states joined. The EU is currently composed of twenty
republics, six
kingdoms, and one
grand duchy.
Enlargement has been a principal feature of the Union's political landscape. The Union was founded by the "Inner Six", those countries willing to forge ahead with the Community while others remained sceptical. It was but a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, which led to the first scepticism 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 George Pompidou took place did Britain's third application succeed (in 1970).[28][29][30]
Applying in 1969 were Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Norway. Norway however declined to accept the invitation to become a member,[31] with the electorate voting against it[32] leaving just the UK, Ireland and Denmark to join.[28] But despite the setbacks, and the withdrawal of Greenland from Denmark's membership in 1985,[33] three more countries would join the Communities before the end of the Cold War.[28] In 1987, the geographical extent of the project was tested when Morocco applied, and was rejected as it was not considered a European country.[34]
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,[28] though Switzerland, which applied in 2002, froze its application due to opposition from voters[35] while Norway, which had applied once more, had its voters reject membership again.[36]) Meanwhile, the members of the former Eastern bloc and Yugoslavia were all starting to move towards EU membership. 10 of these joined in a "big bang" enlargement on 1 May 2004 symbolising the unification of East and Western Europe in the EU.[37]
