The European Union was set up when six countries united to ensure equality, promote economic development and strengthen fragile security in Europe. The positive outcomes of their cooperation and integration, over time, inspired other European countries too to join the Union. As a result of seven waves of enlargement throughout its history, the European Union brings together  27 European states.

First enlargement – Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland

The period from 1960 to 1974 was marked by economic growth in Western Europe. The consumer purchasing power almost doubled. This success attracted the interest of Great Britain. Britain’s first application to join the EEC was made in 1961 by Prime Minister Macmillan. Thanks to French President Charles de Gaulle’s veto, however, the membership bid failed. After Britain made its second successful application for membership, Denmark and Ireland also joined the EU in 1973. Norway too was to accede to the EU the same year. However, the negative referendum result led to rejection of Norwegian membership of the EEC. Norway is not a member state of the European Union but is part of the Schengen Area.

Second and third enlargements – Greece, Spain and Portugal

In the early 1980s, another expansion of the European Economic Community began. Greece, with which the relations were frozen from 1969 to 1974 succeeded in restoring democracy and submitted the first official application for membership of the European Union. The European Commission rejected the application, because the country could not meet the criteria for economic development. Nevertheless, the Council of Ministers and the European Council were in favour of accession of Greece to the European Union, in order to prevent the decline of democracy already on the rise and the spread of communism there (of which there was a real risk). Besides, Greece’s accession coincided with the aspirations of Spain and Portugal to integrate more closely with the European Union. Like Greece, Spain and Portugal had newly freed themselves from military dictatorship. Greece joined the European Union in 1981, and Portugal and Spain in 1986.

Fourth Enargement – Sweden, Austria, Finland

The fourth enlargement of the European Union took place in 1995. Three members of the European Free Trade Association – Sweden, Austria and Finland – became the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth members of the European Union. The fourth wave of enlargement proceeded most smoothly as these highly-developed countries could contribute more to the EU budget than they could. For their part, the new members of the European Union got stronger security guarantees and achieved a high rate of economic growth. Norway considered again joining the European Union but opted to decline for the second time.  It needs to be highlighted that Norway, despite refusing to join the Union, still remains the most developed country on the European continent.

Fifth Enargement

The goal of the fifth enlargement of the European Union was to develop the countries of Eastern and Central Europe after the fall of the Soviet regimes and to make the standard of living in those countries similar to that of the Western European countries through the accession to the European Union. Ten countries joined the European Union in 2004: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Malta and Cyprus. The number of EU members increased to 25.

Six Enlargement

Two more Black Sea countries, Romania and Bulgaria, joined the European Union იn 2008. Croatia became a member in 2013 – as a result of the last enlargement to date. Today the EU is an international organisation formed of 28 independent countries with a combined population of 508 million people.

Seventh Enlargement

In 2013, Croatia became a member of the European Union, as part of the latest enlargement.