"the 15 countries of the European Union (a.k.a. ""EU-15""): Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden & United Kingdom. In April 1998, French newspaper ""Ouest-France""’s Patrick La Prairie proposed the organisation of a European mottoes contest for the, then 15, EU members' secondary education students. This event was meant as a 50-year celebration of Founding father of the European Union Robert Schuman's famous declaration about a supranational Community which eventually led to the creation of the actual European Union. Back in 1998, the European Union had already a flag of Europe, and anthem"
"and which reflects the comparative interests of individual Member States. Beginning in 1957 (Rome Treaty) a group of 6 nations in Western Europe, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, created the European Economic Community (EEC). These member states were gradually joined by others through various waves of enlargement and became the European Union. Similarly to European expansion, at the time of the Treaty of Rome, there were a limited number of nations involved. Beginning with 18 countries and territories that had special relations with the member states, the so-called Associated States gained membership, eventually establishing the group known"
"Authority of the ECSC. These governed the three Communities till the establishment of the European Union in 1993. The three Communities shared the same membership, the six states that signed the Treaty of Paris and subsequent treaties were known as the ""Inner Six"" (the ""outer seven"" were those countries who formed the European Free Trade Association). The six founding countries were France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The first enlargement was in 1973, with the accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s. Following"
"as the European Communities were the Inner Six: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The Communities and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the United Kingdom signified the intention to leave after a membership referendum in June 2016 and is negotiating its withdrawal on 29 March"
"formally established the single European market and the European Political Cooperation. The Communities originally had independent personalities although they were increasingly integrated, and over the years were transformed into what is now called the European Union. The six states that founded the three Communities were known as the ""inner six"" (the ""outer seven"" were those countries who formed the European Free Trade Association). These were Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The first enlargement was in 1973, with the accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Greece joined in 1981, and Portugal and Spain in 1986."
"the European Economic Community, nationals of EEC member states could travel freely from one member state to another on production of their passports or national identity cards. However, systematic identity controls were still in place at the border between most member states. Disagreement between member states led to an impasse on the abolition of border controls within the Community, but in 1985 five of the then ten member states – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany – signed an agreement on the gradual abolition of common border controls. The agreement was signed on the ""Princess Marie-Astrid"" boat on"
"six nations decided to go further and created the European Coal and Steel Community, which was declared to be ""a first step in the federation of Europe"". Visionary men such as Alcide De Gasperi from Italy, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman from France, and Paul-Henri Spaak from Belgium understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and that by tying their national industries together, future war between their nations was made impossible. These men and others are officially credited as the founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,"
"Brussels, and the headquarters of SHAPE near Mons. Belgium was also one of the original founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in July 1952 and of the European Economic Community formed by the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957. Belgium has been a member of the Schengen area since 1985. The American Marshall Plan (officially named the ""European Recovery Program"" or ERP) gave Belgium $559 million in grants from 1948 to 1951; it was not a loan and there was no repayment. A central goal of the ERP was to promote the growth of productivity"
"Economic Community. The delegations of the six participating countries were headed by Johan Willem Beyen (Netherlands), Gaetano Martino (Italy), Joseph Bech (Luxembourg), Antoine Pinay (France), Walter Hallstein (Germany), and Paul-Henri Spaak (Belgium). Joseph Bech was chairman of the meeting. The Foreign Ministers of the ECSC had to meet in order to nominate a member of the High Authority of the ECSC and to appoint its new President and Vice-Presidents for the period expiring on 10 February 1957. The meeting was held at Messina (and partially in Taormina) at the request of Gaetano Martino, the Italian Foreign Minister, who was detained"
"largely rebuild the infrastructure of East Germany. By the millennium change, the EU dominated the economy of Europe comprising the five largest European economies of the time namely Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain. In 1999, 12 of the 15 members of the EU joined the Eurozone replacing their former national currencies by the common euro. The three who chose to remain outside the Eurozone were: the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden. The European Union is now the largest economy in the world. Figures released by Eurostat in 2009 confirmed that the Eurozone had gone into recession in"
"version of the original Community Patent Convention. Twelve states signed the Agreement: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and United Kingdom. All of those states would need to have ratified the Agreement to cause it to enter into force, but only seven did so: Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom. Nevertheless, a majority of member states of the EEC at that time introduced some harmonisation into their national patent laws in anticipation of the entry in force of the CPC. A more substantive harmonisation took place at around the same"
"Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – signed a convention in 1972 which cemented their commitment to creating the EUI as a pillar for research and development. The following year Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the Community and became involved in founding the Institution. The EUI opened its doors to its first 70 researchers in 1976. The mission, laid down in the 1970s, is to “foster the advancement of learning in fields which are of particular interest for the development of Europe”. , the EUI Member States are: The Economics Department provides teaching and supervision to"
"the European Economic Area covering 15 countries. Upon the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, the EEC was renamed the ""European Community"" to reflect that it covered a wider range than economic policy. This was also when the three European Communities, including the EC, were collectively made to constitute the first of the three pillars of the European Union, which the treaty also founded. The EC existed in this form until it was abolished by the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, which incorporated the EC's institutions into the EU's wider framework and provided that the EU would ""replace"
"in the renewed Treaty has been reduced and thus simplified. Five Benelux institutions remain: the Benelux Committee of Ministers, the Benelux Council, the Benelux Parliament, the Benelux Court of Justice, the Benelux Secretariat General. Beside these five institutions, the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property is also present in this Treaty. Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ) is a politico-economic union of three neighbouring states in western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name ""Benelux"" is formed from joining the first two or three letters of each country's name – Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg – and was first used to"
"of the other member states. Since the stage of the common market, or since supranational bodies of the union are created, specific regional funds are created to reallocate revenues from more developed states to less developed ones. This way development of the member states is equalized, with less developed ones developing faster, leading to an increase of their earnings per capita and thus purchasing more from more developed partner states. Economic integration has no war consequence. The European Union has started with agreement between France, Great Britain, Belgium and Luxemburg - on the one hand, and Italy and Germany, on"
"war. Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and hosts the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Council, as well as a seat of the European Parliament in the country's capital, Brussels. Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels hosts several of the EU's official seats as well as the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced"
"for the Benelux states, two for the larger states of France, Germany and Italy. Nevertheless, the Monnet Authority had two members from Belgium and one from Italy. The members were supposed to represent the general interest of the Community and were assisted by a consultative committee. Each member was involved in a number of areas, working with other members, and led one or two of those areas. In addition to Jean Monnet of France, as President, the Authority comprised; Franz Etzel of Germany, First Vice-President Albert Coppé of Belgium, Second Vice-President Paul Finet of Belgium Dirk Spierenburg of Netherlands Léon"
"economic fields. Dependency on overseas oil and the steady exhaustion of coal deposits led to the idea of an atomic energy community (a separate Community was favoured by Monnet, rather than simply extending the powers of the ECSC as suggested by the Common Assembly). However, the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) and Germany desired a common market (though opposed by France and Monnet). In order to reconcile the two ideas, both communities would be created. Thus, the six went on to sign the Treaties of Rome in 1957, establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy"
"G6 (EU) The G6 (Group of Six) in the European Union is an unofficial group of the interior ministers of the six European Union member states—France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom—with the largest populations and thus with the majority of votes in the Council of the European Union. The G6 was established in 2003 as G5 to deal with immigration, terrorism and law and order. In 2006, Poland joined the group, making it the G6. Under the third pillar of the EU, Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters, powers are largely intergovernmental; this is the one"
"which five countries most committed to integration – Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg – would proceed swiftly toward monetary union, joint foreign and defense policies and other forms of integration. In 2014, both reiterated their ideas in an op-ed for the ""Financial Times"", renewing their call for a core group of European Union countries to move ahead faster with economic and political integration. Countries such as Britain should put forward proposals for returning some competences to national governments, they said, while ""the EU should focus mainly on the following areas: a fair and open internal market; trade; currency"
"Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada (since 1976) and the President of the European Commission (starting officially in 1981). The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the first Group of Six (G6) summit in 1975. The G7 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the"
"of development. The Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development was established in 1961 and ‌comprises 52 countries, of which 27 are OECD members: Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In addition, 25 non-OECD countries are full members of the Development Centre: Brazil (since March 1994); India (February 2001); Romania (October 2004); Thailand (March 2005); South Africa (May 2006); Egypt and Viet Nam (March 2008); Colombia (July 2008); Indonesia"
"and its founding Treaty of Brussels was left devoid of much of its authority. Since the end of World War II, West Germany had been occupied by Allied forces and lacked its own means of defense. On 23 July 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) came into existence, bonding the member states economically. By 1951, fear of possible Soviet aggression in Europe, as well as the ""Pleven plan"", proposed in 1950 by then French Prime Minister René Pleven in response to the American call for the rearmament of West Germany, led France, West Germany, Italy and the Benelux"
"have other basic structural things in common, but some are outside. France is part of all of these groups, and Belgium and Germany take part in all where at least half of the 14 member states participate. Some agreements that are mostly related to countries of the European continent, are also valid in territories outside the continent. Not listed below are agreements if their scope is beyond geographic Europe only because the agreement includes: List: Several regional integration efforts have effectively promoted intergovernmental cooperation and reduced the possibility of regional armed conflict. Other initiatives have removed barriers to free trade"
"Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroons, and Gabon. He brought a message of cooperation and financial assistance, but without the traditional paternalism. Giscard was a pragmagtist who billed himself as ""a conservative who likes change."" In 1975 he invited the heads of government from West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit to form the Group of Six major economic powers (now the G7, including Canada). In support of European economic unification, Giscard and his friend West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt launched the European Monetary System (EMS) in April 1978. In 1977, in Opération Lamantin, Giscard"
"became very obvious after the 2007 elections: in Flanders, the classical left-wing parties only captured 1/4 of the votes. On the French-speaking side, the left still carried 1/2 of the votes. One of the key differences centers on the policy towards everyone receiving allocations. Flemings strongly favor a policy focused at helping them regain their autonomy. Belgium is member of ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-9, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC,"
"European Community (precursor to the EU), of which the Netherlands was a founding member. Likewise, the Benelux abolition of internal border controls was a model for the wider Schengen Accord, which today has 29 European signatories (including the Netherlands) pledged to common visa policies and free movement of people across common borders. The Dutch stood at the cradle of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty and have been the architects of the Treaty of Amsterdam concluded in 1998. The Dutch have thus played an important role in European political and monetary integration; indeed, until the year 2003, Dutchman Wim Duisenberg headed the"
"due to the cost of the Cold War. Until 1990, the European Community was expanded from 6 founding members to 12. The emphasis placed on resurrecting the West German economy led to it overtaking the UK as Europe's largest economy. With the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1991, the post-socialist states began free market reforms: Poland, Hungary, and Slovenia adopted them reasonably quickly, while Ukraine and Russia are still in the process of doing so. After East and West Germany were reunited in 1990, the economy of West Germany struggled as it had to support and"
"a total of 2,321 people (on 1 January 2010) are doing salaried work for the CoE. Most offices in foreign countries are expected to be closed as well. The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Greece and Turkey joined three months later, and Iceland and West Germany the next year. It now has 47 member states, with Montenegro being the latest to join. Article 4 of the Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to any ""European"" State. This has been"
"formed with the addition of Russia. In addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975. The G8 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy,"
"with the proportion of Brussels that is Dutch-speaking. Rather, it is primarily relations between businesses in Brussels and Flemish businesses, or more generally, with Dutch-speaking businesses as a whole that ensure the economic importance of Dutch in Brussels. In 1958, Brussels became the seat of the European Economic Community, which later became the EU, while the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established in 1967 with its headquarters in Evere. This, combined with economic immigration from southern Europe and later from Turkey, Morocco (a former French colony), and the Congo (a former Belgian colony), changed the makeup of the population of"
"countries. The European Economic Community (EEC) was created in 1957 between six countries within the Western Bloc and later expanded to twelve countries across Europe. European communist countries had a looser economic grouping with the USSR known as Comecon. To the south there was a non-aligned communist federated country – Yugoslavia. In 1989, the Cold War between the two superpowers was coming to an end, with the USSR's influence over communist Europe collapsing. As the communist states began their transition to free market democracies, aligning to Euro-Atlantic integration, the question of enlargement into the continent was thrust onto the EEC's"
"Inner Six The Inner Six, or simply 'the Six', were the six founding member states of the European Communities. They were in contrast to the outer seven who formed the European Free Trade Association rather than engage in supranational European integration. Five of the Outer Seven later joined the European Communities. The Inner Six are those who responded to the Schuman Declaration's call for the pooling of coal and steel resources under a common High Authority. The six signed the Treaty of Paris creating the European Coal and Steel Community on 18 April 1951 (which came into force on 23"