When was the European Union established? Which member countries are there?

1 993165438+1October1,the EU was formally born. The founders of the European Union are France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

The EU * * * has 28 member States, with France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg as the founding members, and 195 1 has formed an alliance. Since then, Denmark, Ireland, Britain (including Gibraltar) (1973), Greece (198 1 year), Spain and Portugal (1986), Austria, Finland and Sweden (1996).

On May 1 day, 2004, the EU achieved the largest expansion in history. Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined the EU at the same time. On June 65438+1 October1day, 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union. 2065438+July 2003 1 day, Croatia joined the European Union.

In addition, the EU has initiated accession negotiations with Iceland. Will Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania? Serbia is listed as an EU candidate; A Stabilization and Association Agreement was signed with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Extended data:

Purpose:

Promote peace, pursue the affluent life of citizens, achieve sustainable social and economic development, ensure basic values and strengthen international cooperation.

Judging from its content, the EU constitutional treaty is a reorganization and compilation of its basic treaties according to the new situation of EU development, and some of the original contents have been reformed.

About 80% of the text of the constitutional treaty is a repetition or reorganization of the existing treaty provisions and an inheritance of the existing treaties of the European Union. Only about 20% of the contents are innovative clauses, in which the decision-making mode and institutional setup of the EU have undergone major changes. Mainly as follows:

1, giving the EU legal person status.

Article I-6 of the Articles of Association stipulates that the Union shall have the status of a legal person. On behalf of the EU, EU foreign ministers and Council of Europe have established various beneficial cooperation with countries and international organizations. Under the leadership of the foreign ministers, the EU delegation works closely with the diplomatic missions of member countries to represent the EU. The EU can conclude agreements with third countries and international organizations in its own name, and bring lawsuits in domestic or international courts.

2. Reform the decision-making voting mechanism.

The constitution abolished the one-vote veto system in the past 20 fields and replaced it with an effective majority voting system in most fields, thus ensuring that the decision-making process of the EU will not be stagnant because of the different opinions of individual countries in the future.

According to the provisions of the treaty, in most cases, the so-called majority means that more than half of the participating countries support a decision and can represent more than two-thirds of the total population of the European Union.

If the Constitution does not require the European Council or the Council of Ministers to make a decision on the proposal of the European Council, or if the European Council or the Council of Ministers does not make a decision on the motion of the European Foreign Minister.

The required majority is defined as two-thirds of the participating countries and can represent more than three-fifths of the EU population. However, in the fields of diplomacy and security, taxation, social security, etc., member States still retain the right of veto and autonomy.

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