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A Guide to the European Union
Frequently Asked Questions
Who
are the Members of the European Union?
There are 27 Members of the European Union.
Together with their dates of joining they are:
| 25/03/1957 |
France, Germany,
Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg |
| 01/01/1973 |
Denmark, Ireland,
United Kingdom |
| 01/01/1981 |
Greece |
| 01/01/1986 |
Spain, Portugal
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| 01/01/1995 |
Austria, Finland,
Sweden |
| 01/05/2004 |
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia |
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(click on name of country for more information on this site) |
| 01/01/2007 |
Romania and Bulgaria |
For more information on the European Union
in general please see Europa
Who
has applied to join the European Union?
There are 3 "applicant countries".
Together with their dates of application, they are:
For more information, please see the Member State
section on this site, or enlargement
section of Europa and click here for a map
What
are the official languages of the European Union?
What are the official languages of the European
Union? The very first Regulation enacted by the Council of what
is now the European Union, was concerned with language. On 15 April
1958. The Council laid down that the official languages of the Member
States should be both the official languages of the Community and
the working languages of the Community institution.
Every Member State's official language is
an official language of the EU. As several Member States share the
same official language this means there are now 20 official languages.
They are (in alphabetical order): Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish,
French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish.
Which is the correct
term: 'European Union'(EU), 'European Community'(EC) or 'European
Commission'?
They are all correct for different occasions.
The European Union (EU) came into being with
the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on 1/11/93. In discussing
events prior to this date the term EC or even its predecessor (EEC)
would be more accurate. Since 1/11/93 the term European Union (EU)
has replaced in common usage the term European Community (EC) in
most cases referring to the group of Member States making up the
EU. The European Commission is the executive body, the "public service"
of the EU. The EU, as such, has no overseas diplomatic representation.
It is the European Commission that is represented by Delegations
overseas and the correct appellation, for example, is: Delegation
of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand.
From
European Community to European Union
The Treaty of the European Union, also
known as the Maastricht Treaty, entered into force on 1 November
1993, following the ratification of the Treaty by all twelve
Member States of the European Communities. As a result, what
used to be known as the European Community (EC) has
become known, through common usage, as the European Union
(EU).
The European Community of course continues
to exist as the first and most important foundation of the
European Union. Therefore, the expressions, the EC, European
Community, will continue to be used, especially in certain
documents of a legal character such as official acts adopted
on the basis of the Treaty establishing the European Community.
The role and responsibilities of the European Union, however, is not limited
to the EC (including the stages for achieving the economic
and monetary union, the European Coal and Steel Community
and Euratom (the European Atomic and Energy Community) but
also applies to new areas under the Maastricht Treaty such
as the common foreign and security policy and cooperation
in the field of justice and home affairs.
The Union as a whole is served by a
single institutional framework, The former EC Council of
Ministers is now called the Council of the European Union
or EU Council. The European Parliament
and the European Court of Justice have maintained their
original names as has the Commission of the European Communities
but which can be called the European Commission in
short.
In a similar way, the use of the European Union or EU is recommended
to call the territory formerly commonly referred to as the
EC in such expression as: the EU Member States, EU population,
EU market or industry, etc.
For information on the history
of the European Union please see:-
http://europa.eu/abc/history/index_en.htm
Please also see (Frequently
Asked Questions - Europa website)
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