Countries and capitals of the European Union

The European Union It is a political and economic community of law made up of 27 European countries, which have gradually entered over the years. According to data updated in 2020 by the Council of Europe.

The countries of the European Union are very different from each other, but they are all linked by a series of political and economic commitments. Due to the importance of this institution, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to talk about the countries and capitals of the European Union.

Although over the years the countries and capitals of the European Unionthey can vary, here we leave you an updated list with the members that are today in this community. They are as follows:

• Germany: Berlin
• Austria: Vienna
• Belgium: Brussels
• Bulgaria: Sofia
• Cyprus: Nicosia
• Croatia: Zagreb
• Denmark: Copenhagen
• Slovakia: Bratislava
• Slovenia: Ljubljana
• Spain: Madrid
• Estonia: Tallinn
• Finland: Helsinki
• France: Paris
• Greece: Athens
• Hungary: Budapest
• Ireland: Dublin
• Italy: Rome
• Latvia: Riga
• Lithuania: Vilnius
• Luxembourg: Luxembourg City
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• Malt: Valletta
• Netherlands: Amsterdam
• Poland: Warsaw
• Portugal: Lisbon
• Czech Republic: Prague
• Romania: Bucharest
• Sweden: Stockholm

It is important to highlight the case of UK, with the capital of London, which since 2020 has been outside the European Union. After a vote, the British citizens decided to leave the EU and the dubbed "Brexit". For this reason, today the UK is NOT part of the European Union.

To continue with this lesson on the countries and capitals of the European Union we must talk about the history of the enlargement of the European Union, that is, see the years in which new countries were added to the European institution, and what were these countries.

The first countries to join the European Union were the founders. Its accession can be fixed in 1951, and the countries were the following:

• Belgium: Its capital is Brussels.
• Luxembourg: Its capital is the City of Luxembourg.
• Netherlands: Its capital is Amsterdam.
• Italy: Its capital is Rome.
• France: It's capital is Paris.
• German Federal Republic: One of the two parts into which ancient Germany was divided. The capital was Bonn, but today the capital of Germany is Berlin.

On 1973 the first enlargement of member countries in the European Union took place. These countries asked to join in 1961, but a series of problems in the negotiations meant that these countries did not enter the Union until the early 1970s. These countries are as follows:

• Ireland: Its capital is Dublin.
• UK: Its capital is London.
• Denmark: Its capital is Copenhagen.

On 1961, Greece signed an adhesion agreement, but the country's political situation meant that joining the union will take years to be carried out, because the Greek state did not meet certain conditions necessary to access the institution European. It was in 1981 when Greece became a member state of the European Union. The capital of Greece is Athens.

The following accessions took place in 1986This date is of great importance for our country, since it is the year of Spain's entry into the European Union. The two countries that joined the institution were the following:

• Spain: Whose capital is Madrid.
• Portugal: Whose capital is Lisbon.

Later in 1995, after signing the Maastricht TreatyA number of other countries joined the European Union. These countries were the following:

• Austria: Whose capital is Vienna.
• Finland: Whose capital is Helsinki.
• Sweden: Whose capital is Stockholm.

On 2004 the largest enlargement the European Union has ever had. One of the causes of the great entry of countries was that many of them had been part of countries that had separated, such as the USSR or Yugoslavia. The states that joined were as follows:

• Estonia: Whose capital is Tallinn.
• Slovakia: Whose capital is Bratislava.
• Slovenia: Whose capital is Ljubljana.
• Hungary: Whose capital is Budapest.
• Latvia: Whose capital is Riga.
• Lithuania: Whose capital is Vilnius.
• Malt: Whose capital is Valletta.
• Cyprus: Whose capital is Nicosia.
• Poland: Whose capital is Warsaw.
• Czech Republic: Whose capital is Prague.

On 2007 and 2013 the entry into the Union of the last three countries took place. Which are:

• Bulgaria: Whose capital is Sofia.
• Romania: Whose capital is Bucharest.
• Croatia: Whose capital is Zagreb.

The countries of the European Union must meet a series of requirements to be part of the institution. These requirements are the so-called Copenhagen Criteria, conditions that European countries must meet to become member states. The criteria were established in the summer of 1993 at the European Council held in the city of Copenhagen, at a time when the number of countries interested in joining the European Union had grown dramatically amount.

The selection criteria are both political and economic in nature. Some of the Copenhagen criteria are as follows:

• The country's political system must be a democracy. In which the people can participate in the political decision-making of the state through the use of the vote.
• The country must comply with human rights. Citizens, as human beings, have a series of rights that cannot be limited by the state.
• Respect and protection of the culture of one's own country and of minorities. Minorities can vary depending on the specific European country.
• Existence of a economic market that can compete with the market forces of the other member countries.
• Capacity for fulfill obligations that emanate from the different norms that make up the regulations of the European Union.