Portal:European Union/Member States Intro

The European Union (EU) was originally created by six founding states in 1958, but has grown to its current size of 27 member states. There were five successive enlargements during this period, with the largest occurring on May 1, 2004, when 10 member states joined.

The EU have 27 member states since 2007 with the addition of Romania and Bulgaria. Negotiations are also underway with other states. The process of enlargement is sometimes referred to as European integration. However, this term is also used to refer to the intensification of cooperation between EU member states as national governments allow for the gradual centralising of power within European institutions. In order to join the European Union, a state needs to fulfill the economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhagen criteria. That basically requires a secular, democratic government, rule of law and corresponding freedoms and institutions. According to the EU Treaty, each current member state and also the European Parliament have to agree to any enlargement.

Bulgaria and Romania comprise the second part of the EU's fifth enlargement and joined the EU on January 1, 2007. This date was firmly set at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003 and confirmed at Brussels on June 18, 2004. The country reports of October 2004, and in the final report on September 26, 2006 also affirmed the January 1, 2007 date of accession for both Bulgaria and Romania. Bulgaria and Romania signed their Treaty of Accession on April 25, 2005 at Luxembourg's Neumünster Abbey.