The European Union is an association of 28 states, whose activities were enshrined in 1992 by the rules of the Maastricht Treaty. At the end of 2012, the share of countries of this association in world GDP was 23% or 16.6 trillion US dollars. The political centers of the European Union are located in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, and are led by the European Council, the Commission, the Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
A little bit about the European Union
Currently, the following countries are part of this state association: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Estonia.
At the very beginning of the intra-European union, back in the 90s of the last century, the first members of the European Union were six states: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France. Then the remaining 22 countries joined them.
The main factors or rules for joining the organization are compliance with the criteria enshrined in 1993 in Copenhagen and approved at a meeting of members of the Union in Madrid two years later. Member states must comply with the basic principles of democracy, respect freedom and human rights, as well as the foundations of the rule of law. A potential member of the organization must have a competitive market economy and recognize the general rules and standards already adopted in the European Union.
The European Union has its own motto - “Consent in Diversity”, as well as the anthem “Ode to Joy”.
European countries that are not members of the European Union
Non-member European countries include the following:
- Great Britain, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Switzerland in Western Europe;
- Belarus, Russia, Moldova and Ukraine in Eastern Europe;
- North European Iceland, Norway;
- Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Vatican, Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro in Southern Europe;
- partially located in Europe Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey;
- as well as unrecognized states of the Republic of Kosovo and Transnistria.
Currently, Turkey, Iceland, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro are in the status of potential candidates for membership in the European Union.
The Western Balkans - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo - are already included in this expansion program. Nevertheless, the latter state is not yet recognized by the European Union as independent due to the fact that the separation of Kosovo from Serbia is not yet recognized by all members of the organization.
Several so-called "dwarf" states - Andorra, Vatican, Monaco and San Marino, although they use the euro, still maintain relations with the European Union only through partial cooperation agreements.
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