Members
Further information: Member State of the European Union and Enlargement of the European UnionThe six states that founded the EEC and the other two Communities were known as the "inner six" (the "outer seven" were those countries who formed the European Free Trade Association). The six were France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The first enlargement was in 1973, with the accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s. Following the creation of the EU in 1993, it has enlarged to include a further fifteen countries by 2007.
| Flag | State | Accession | Language(s) | Currency | Population (1990) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 01957-03-2525 March 1957 | Dutch, French and German | Belgian franc | 700710016000000000010,016,000 | |
| Denmark | 01973-01-011 January 1973 | Danish | Danish krone | 70065146500000000005,146,500 | |
| France | 01957-03-2525 March 1957 | French | French franc | 700756718000000000056,718,000 | |
| West Germany | 01957-03-2525 March 1957 | German | German mark | 700763254000000000063,254,000 | |
| Greece | 01981-01-011 January 1981 | Greek | Greek drachma | 700710120000000000010,120,000 | |
| Ireland | 01973-01-011 January 1973 | Irish and English | Irish pound | 70063521000000000003,521,000 | |
| Italy | 01957-03-2525 March 1957 | Italian | Italian lira | 700756762700000000056,762,700 | |
| Luxembourg | 01957-03-2525 March 1957 | French, German and Luxembourgish | Luxembourgish franc | 7005384400000000000384,400 | |
| Netherlands | 01957-03-2525 March 1957 | Dutch | Dutch guilder | 700714892300000000014,892,300 | |
| Portugal | 01986-01-011 January 1986 | Portuguese | Portuguese escudo | 70069862500000000009,862,500 | |
| Spain | 01986-01-011 January 1986 | Spanish | Spanish peseta | 700738993800000000038,993,800 | |
| United Kingdom | 01973-01-011 January 1973 | English | Pound sterling | 700757681000000000057,681,000 |
Member states are represented in some form in each institution. The Council is also composed of one national minister who represents their national government. Each state also has a right to one European Commissioner each, although in the European Commission they are not supposed to represent their national interest but that of the Community. Prior to 2004, the larger members (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) have had two Commissioners. In the European Parliament, members are allocated a set number seats related to their population, however these (since 1979) have been directly elected and they sit according to political allegiance, not national origin. Most other institutions, including the European Court of Justice, have some form of national division of its members.
Read more about this topic: European Economic Community
Famous quotes containing the word members:
“I weep for the liberty of my country when I see at this early day of its “successful experiment” that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives, and the rights of the people have been bartered for promises of office.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“What’s the greatest enemy of Christianity to-day? Frozen meat. In the past only members of the upper classes were thoroughly sceptical, despairing, negative. Why? Among other reasons, because they were the only people who could afford to eat too much meat. Now there’s cheap Canterbury lamb and Argentine chilled beef. Even the poor can afford to poison themselves into complete scepticism and despair.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Man is more disposed to domination than freedom; and a structure of dominion not only gladdens the eye of the master who rears and protects it, but even its servants are uplifted by the thought that they are members of a whole, which rises high above the life and strength of single generations.”
—Karl Wilhelm Von Humboldt (1767–1835)