European Economic Community - Members

Members

Further information: Member State of the European Union and Enlargement of the European Union

The 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.