《旅游管理专业英语》（第二版） 讲义 Lesson11 European Union.docVIP

European Union (EU) The European Union or EU is a supranational organisation of European countries, which currently has 25 member states. The Union was established under that name by the Treaty on European Union (commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty) in 1992. However, many aspects of the EU existed before that date through a series of predecessor organisations, dating back to the 1950s. Current members There are currently 25 member states in the European Union. Together with their dates of accession, these are: Austria ( 1995) Belgium (founding member: 1952/ 58) Cyprus ( 2004) Czech Republic ( 2004) Denmark ( 1973) Estonia ( 2004) Finland ( 1995) France (founding member: 1952/ 58) Germany (founding member: 1952/ 58) Greece ( 1981) Hungary ( 2004) Ireland ( 1973) Italy (founding member: 1952/ 58) Latvia ( 2004) Lithuania ( 2004) Luxembourg (founding member: 1952/ 58) Malta ( 2004) The Netherlands (founding member: 1952/ 58) Poland ( 2004) Portugal ( 1986) Slovakia ( 2004) Slovenia ( 2004) Spain ( 1986) Sweden ( 1995) United Kingdom ( 1973) Future and prospective members Main article: Enlargement of the European Union Acceding nations Acceding countries (with year of submitting and accession): 1995, Bulgaria, completed negotiations, set for membership in 2007. 1995, Romania, completed negotiations, set for membership in 2007. Candidate nations The following states have submitted applications for EU membership (with year of submitting): 1987, Turkey, expected to start negotiations in October 2005. (EU-Turkey Customs Union is in force since 1995) 2003, Croatia, was set to start negotiations in March 2005, but they have been postponed. 2004, Republic of Macedonia, currently in procedure to be recognized as a candidate country by EU institutions. Other natio