EU Fun Facts

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EU Fun Facts

The European Union has grown from the original 6 nations of the EEC to the 28 states of the EU:

1950's Founder Members

  • Belgium
  • France
  • Italy
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • (West) Germany


1970's

  • Denmark
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom


1980's

  • Greece
  • Portugal
  • Spain


1990's

  • Austria
  • Finland
  • Sweden


2000's

  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Estonia
  • Hungary
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Malta
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia


2010's

  • Croatia


Has Anyone Left the EU?

The list above shows that many countries (including the UK) have joined the EU, but have any countries left? The EU can claim "no" - but only on a technicality.

The real answer is yes - Greenland. Greenland had been a part of the EEC (the forerunner of the EU) as part of Denmark, but after Greenland became independent of Denmark, a referendum was held in 1982 and they left the EEC in 1985.

Unfortunately, this does not give us much idea about what would happen if the UK leaves - there have been many treaties since 1985 and Greenland has a population of less than 60,000 and a GDP around 1.5 billion. That is about half the size of Morrisons Supermarkets.


What is the Process of Leaving?

The EU referendum is on Thursday, 23rd June 2016. The result of this vote could be to stay in or to leave the EU.

If the vote is to leave, the UK government would then need to formally state to the EU that it intends to leave. This may be postponed by the UK government for further negotiations. There may also be some bureaucratic hurdles built as a delaying tactic by both sides.

Once the formal notice is served, the leaving process and subsequent trade agreements, border arrangements and terms of engagement are negotiated. At the end of 2 years from the formal notice, the UK can unilaterally leave the EU and dissolve any EU legislation.

However, the negotiations may yield many different possibilities:

  • Virtually immediate Brexit
  • Brexit within 2-3 years similar to Greenland
  • A slower phased Brexit over (say) 10 years
  • A reduced membership status for UK
  • The negotiations pass the 2 year deadline and the UK is no longer part of the EU

Which of these possibilities is most likely I leave to the reader to decide.

All this means that after a "leave" result on June 23rd, it could still be a very long time before the UK has completely broken its ties with the EU.


The European Economic Area

The remnants of the old EEC still exist in the form of the EEA. There are a few countries that did not transition from EEC to EU.

Most countries that join the EU, also join the EEA. The 30 countries in the EEA are:

EU and EEA

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom


EEA Only

Malta

EEA and EFTA

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway

EFTA Only

Switzerland

In the Process of Joining

Croatia


The Schengen Agreement

This is a passport-less area with lower border restrictions. Not all countries in the Schengen Area are a part of the EU. The countries included are:

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

The UK and Ireland have opted out of this agreement.

Some countries have reimposed some border controls recently.

Further Reading

Read our views on the effects that the UK EU referendum are having within Human Resources and some of the mitigations that can be made:

HR and the UK EU Referendum