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EU member states

The EU comprises 27 countries. They are set out below, under the dates they joined.

1958
Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands

Belgian flag French flag German flag Italian flag Luxembourg flag Netherlands flag

1973
Denmark, Ireland, UK

Danish flag Irish flag Union flag

1981
Greece

Greek flag

1986
Portugal, Spain

Portugese flag Spanish flag

1995
Austria, Finland, Sweden

Austrian flag Finnish flag Swedish flag

2004
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia

Cypriot flag Czech flag Estonian flag Hungarian flag Latvian flag Lithuanian flag Maltese flag Polish flag Slovakian flag Slovenian flag

2007
Romania, Bulgaria

Romania flag Bulgaria flag

Further enlargement of the EU is likely. Negotiations with Croatia and Turkey started on 3 October 2005 under the UK Presidency. Although an official candidate, a start date for negotiations with Macedonia has not yet been set.