European Union
From RationalWiki
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The European Union (EU) is a grouping of 24 European-ish countries. It is primarily an economic union aiming to harmonise financial and business activity between its member countries. The EU is often popularly ridiculed in the United Kingdom for its silly rules about square strawberries, straight bananas and designating the carrot as a fruit, although most of these "rules" do not exist, or were exaggerated or misinterpreted by eurosceptics.[1]
There is some debate about the what direction the EU should take in the future, with some looking for a "wider" association and some for a "deeper" one. Those who wish a wider union are typically in favour of European expansion without any increased integration of the countries involved. Those who wish a deeper union are more interested in increased integration of the existing countries. These differing objectives can cause some conflict, as the wider the union becomes the more difficult it is to achieve integration; and the deeper the union becomes, the more difficult it is for new member countries to join.
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[edit] Member countries
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- France
- Finland
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Republic of Ireland
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
[edit] Official wannabe members
The following countries are recognised as candidate countries. [2]
- Turkey has been trying to get in for twenty years, but has been refused on every application. It seems that it may have some way to go before it meets all EU standards however.[3]
- Croatia
- Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
[edit] Official Pre-wannabe members
The following countries are recognised as pre-candidate countries.[4]
[edit] Don't wannabe members
Norway and Switzerland have both been invited but turned the offer down.
