The European Union: History and List of Its Member States

Banaspati -- The European Union is one of the largest organizations in the world consisting of countries on the European continent.

A total of 27 countries have joined the European Union.

Of the 27 countries, around 505.7 million citizens live and settle in the European Union.

The formation of the European Union took place towards the end of the Second World War.

History of the European Union

Reporting from the European Union, the pioneers of the European Union decided the best steps to end the protracted conflict.

Because, in the past, European countries competed with each other by means of war.

The biggest war resulted in World War I and World War II.

After World War II, the pioneers of the European Union decided to jointly manage European coal and steel production.

This European Union pioneer is known as The Inner Six, which consists of:

1. Belgia

2. Jerman

3. Perancis

4. Italia

5. Luksemburg

6. Belanda

The European Union was officially formed through the signing of the Maastricht Agreement in 1992. After that, the EU's economic growth continued to expand to the international scene.

The members of the European Union are starting to grow. Denmark, Ireland and the UK became the first additional countries to join the European Union.

This was followed by several other countries that joined the European Union.

With the increasing number of members joining, the European Union is emboldening to do more expansion through the launch of a single market and border-free travel within the EU.

In fact, the European Union agreed that the euro became legal tender in their territory.

Seeing the development of increasingly promising EU cooperation, Croatia chose to join the European Union.

On the other hand, the UK chose to officially leave the European Union on January 31, 2020.

Member of the European Union

Still from the same source, the members of the European Union consist of 27 sovereign countries. The following is a list of the 27 countries in the European Union and the year they joined:

1. Austria, joined in 1995

2. Belgium, officially joined since 1958

3. Bulgaria, joined in 2007

4. Croatia, joined in 2013 then

5. Cyprus, officially joined in 2004

6. Czech Republic, joined in 2004

7. Denmark, joined since 1973

8. Estonia, which has been represented in various EU institutions

9. Finland, joined since 1995

10. France, pioneer joined in 1958

11. Germany, officially joined in 1958

12. Greece, joined in 1981

13. Hungary, joined in 2004

14. reland, joined since 1973

15. Italy, pioneered and joined in 1958

16. Latvia, joined since 2004

17. Lithuania, officially joined in 2004

18. Luxembourg, pioneers who joined in 1958

19. Malta, joined in 2008

20. Netherlands, pioneer joined since 1958

21. Poland, joined in 2004

22. Portugal, joined since 1986

23. Romania, joined in 2007

24. Slovakia, joined in 2004

25. Slovenia, joined in 2004

26. Spain, joined since 1986

27. Sweden, joined in 1995.

Currently, the European Union is headquartered in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. While the official languages used are 24 languages.

Ukraine applies for membership to the European Union

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed his country's formal application for membership to join the European Union on Monday (28/2/2022).

The membership application was made in the midst of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Through his Twitter social media account, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office in Ukraine Andriy Sybiha shared the process of signing the membership application carried out by Volodymyr Zelensky and Ruslan Stephanchuk, Head of Parliament, and Denys Shmygal, Prime Minister.

"The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has just signed a historic document--Ukraine's application for EU membership. Long live Ukraine!" Sybiha wrote on Twitter.

The tweet also included photos of the membership application process in which three men took turns signing the papers.