Frequently Asked Questions

1.Who are the Members of the European Union?

2.Who has applied to join the European Union?
3.What are the official languages of the European Union?
4.Which is the correct term: 'European Union', 'European Community' or 'European Commission'?
5.Who are the Commissioners?
6.Who holds the Presidency of the European Commission?
7.Symbols
8.Do the number of stars on the European flag represent the Member States?
9.Is there a European Anthem?
10.Does the EU have a "national" day?
11.Is there a Single European Currency?
12.Public Holidays in the EU (pdf file)
13.History of the European Union

Who are the Members of the European Union?

There are 25 Members of the European Union. Ten countries joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. They are:

25/3/57 France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg
1/1/73 Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom
1/1/81 Greece
1/1/86 Spain, Portugal
1/1/95 Austria, Finland, Sweden
1/5/04 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia

For more information on the European Union in general please see Europa

 

Who has applied to join the European Union?

There are 4 "candidate countries". Together with their dates of application, they are:

14/4/87 Turkey
22/6/95 Romania
14/12/95 Bulgaria
18/2/03 Croatia

Please see enlargement section of Europa for more information and click here for enlargement map

What are the official languages of the European Union?

What are the official languages of the European Union? The very first Regulation enacted by the Council of what is now the European Union, was concerned with language. On 15 April 1958. The Council laid down that the official languages of the Member States should be both the official languages of the Community and the working languages of the Community institution.

Every Member State's official language is an official language of the EU. As several Member States share the same official language this means there are 20 official languages. They are (in alphabetical order): Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonia, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish.

 

Which is the correct term: 'European Union'(EU), 'European Community'(EC) or 'European Commission'?

They are all correct for different occasions.

The European Union (EU) came into being with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on 1/11/93. In discussing events prior to this date the term EC or even its predecessor (EEC) would be more accurate. Since 1/11/93 the term European Union (EU) has replaced in common usage the term European Community (EC) in most cases referring to the group of Member States making up the EU. The European Commission is the executive body, the "public service" of the EU. The EU, as such, has no overseas diplomatic representation. It is the European Commission that is represented by Delegations overseas and the correct appellation, for example, is: Delegation of the European Commission to China.

From European Community to European Union

The Treaty of the European Union, also known as the Maastricht Treaty, entered into force on 1 November 1993, following the ratification of the Treaty by all twelve Member States of the European Communities.As a result, what used to be known as the European Community (EC) has become known, through common usage, as the European Union (EU).

The European Community of course continues to exist as the first and most important foundation of the European Union.Therefore, the expressions, the EC, European Community, will continue to be used, especially in certain documents of a legal character such as official acts adopted on the basis of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

The role and responsibilities of the European Union, however, is not limited to the EC (including the stages for achieving the economic and monetary union, the European Coal and Steel Community and Euratom (the European Atomic and Energy Community) but also applies to new areas under the Maastricht Treaty such as the common foreign and security policy and cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs.

The Union as a whole is served by a single institutional framework.The former EC Council of Ministers is now called the Council of the European Union or EU Council.The European Parliament and the European Court of Justice have maintained their original names as has the Commission of the European Communities but which can be called the European Commission in short.

In a similar way, the use of the European Union or EU is recommended to call the territory formerly commonly referred to as the EC in such expression as: the EU Member States, EU population, EU market or industry, etc.

 

For information on the history of the European Union please see:-

http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/index_en.htm