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.

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