"in his capacity as President of the European Council during the six-month presidency of that body by France, stated that the legal guarantees would be added as a protocol later to the treaty, enabling Croatia to join the European Union legally. The guarantee that Ireland would keep its Commissioner provided Lisbon was ratified was criticised in the ""Irish Times"" on the grounds that it may lead to an oversized European Commission. The Twenty-eighth Amendment in October 2009 formally authorised the government to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon. Official websites Unofficial consolidated treaties Media overviews Political party campaigns Groups Articles Twenty-eighth"
"Trade within the Union accounts for more than one-third of the world total. The European Union or EU is a supranational union of 28 European states, the most recent acceding member being Croatia, which became full member on 1 July 2013. It has many functions, the most important being the establishment and maintenance of a common single market, consisting of a customs union, a single currency (adopted by 18 of the 28 member states), a Common Agricultural Policy and a Common Fisheries Policy. The European Union also undertakes various initiatives to co-ordinate activities of the member states. The union has"
"joined the EU as the 28th member on 1 July 2013 in the sixth enlargement. Meanwhile, the financial crisis hit Eurosceptic Iceland hard and its desire to seek haven in the EU and the euro led to it lodging its first formal application. Negotiations were expected to be concluded quickly. If disputes over fisheries were resolved and the Icelandic people consented, then Iceland would join. A new government was elected in Iceland during April 2013 and this government has frozen negotiations until a referendum of the people can be held. In an ongoing program of enlargement, there are five other"
"joined on 1 July 2013 (Croatia). According to the World Bank 2008 analysis, the transition to advanced market economies is over for all 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. The CEE countries include the former socialist states, which extend west of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova; south of Finland and the Baltic Sea; north of Greece; and east of Austria, Italy, and Germany: According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ""Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) is an OECD term for the group of countries comprising Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania,"
"a qualified 2/3 majority. EU member states outside the eurozone cannot be fined for breaches of the fiscal rules. In December 2012, Finland became the twelfth eurozone state to ratify the treaty, thus triggering its entry into force on 1 January 2013. For subsequent ratifiers, entry into force is on the first day of the month following their deposit of the instrument of ratification. Slovakia became a party to the treaty on 1 February 2013, as did Hungary, Luxembourg and Sweden on 1 June 2013, Malta on 1 July 2013, Poland on 1 September 2013, the Netherlands on 1 November"
"all 25 signatories plus Croatia, which acceded to the EU in July 2013. The Fiscal Compact is the fiscal chapter of the Treaty (Title III). It binds 22 Member States: the 19 Member States of the Eurozone plus Bulgaria, Denmark and Romania who have chosen to opt-in. It is accompanied by a set of common principles. Member states bound by the Fiscal Compact have to transpose into national legal order the provisions of the Fiscal Compact. In particular, national budget has to be in balance or surplus under the treaty's definition. An automatic correction mechanism has to be established to"
"Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013 as the 28th member state. The Croatian economy is heavily interdependent on other principal economies of Europe, and any negative trends in these larger EU economies also have a negative impact on Croatia. Italy, Germany and Slovenia are Croatia's most important trade partners. In spite of the rather slow post-recession recovery, in terms of income per capita it is still ahead of some European Union member states such as Bulgaria, and Romania. In terms of average monthly wage, Croatia is ahead of 9 EU members (Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia, Latvia, Poland,"
"2013, Bulgaria on 1 February 2014 and the last signatory Belgium on 1 April 2014. The non-eurozone countries Denmark and Romania have declared themselves to be bound in full, while Bulgaria declared itself bound by Title III. Latvia became bound by the fiscal provision on 1 January 2014 when it adopted the euro. Croatia, which acceded to the EU in July 2013, also acceded to the Fiscal Compact on 7 March 2018. The ratification processes is summarised in the table below. 23 countries submitted laws for ratification of the treaty according to a standard parliamentary ratification procedure. In Cyprus, ratification"
"Poland became NATO members. Finally, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia joined in 2004. In 2009, Croatia and Albania joined. In 2008, Ukraine and Georgia were told that they will also eventually become members. The Republic of Macedonia's application process is finished, but it is blocked by Greece. Thus, 22 out of 28 NATO states are among the 28 EU members, another two are members of the EEA, and one more is an EU candidate and also a member of the European Union Customs Union. On 22 May 2007, the member states of the European Union have agreed"
"other hand, the EEA Agreement was applied on a provisional basis to the 10 acceding countries in May 2004 as from the date of their accession to the EU. Croatia signed their Treaty of Accession to the EU 9 December 2011 and subsequently lodged their application to the EEA on 13 September 2012. Negotiations started 15 March 2013 in Brussels, with the aim of achieving simultaneous accession to both the EU and the EEA on 1 July 2013. However, this was not achieved. On 20 November 2013 it was announced that an enlargement agreement was reached. The text was initialled"
"on 9 December 2011 by the European Council. The participants are the eurozone member states and all other EU members without the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. The treaty entered into force on 1 January 2013 for the 16 states which completed ratification prior of this date and on 1 April 2014 entered into force for all 25 signatories. Despite speculation that the crisis in Greece could spread and that the euro might fail, some newer EU states from the 2004 enlargement joined the currency during the recession. Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus all acceded within the first two years"
"group); Russia (Eastern European group); Peru (Latin American and Caribbean group); and France (Western Europe and Others group). Another Eastern European and Western Europe and Others members were due to be chosen later. They will join the other states already on the committee: Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Moldova, Uruguay and Zimbabwe. The new term will begin on 1 January 2013 in accordance with paragraph 7 of the General Assembly resolution 60/251. An election will also be held to choose members for"
"the United Kingdom; Croatia subsequently acceded to the EU in July 2013) on 2 March 2012. Although the European Fiscal Compact was negotiated between member states of the EU, it is not formally part of European Union law. It does, however, contain a provision to attempt to incorporate the pact into the Treaties establishing the European Union within 5 years of its entering into force. The treaty entered into force on 1 January 2013 for the 16 states which had completed their ratification. All nine other signatory states subsequently became parties to the treaty. Two non-eurozone member states, Denmark and"
"Ljubljanska Banka; after the treaty was signed, Slovenia ratified the Croatian accession treaty. After all 27 member states signed the EU accession treaty, on 1 July 2013, Croatia joined the European Union, becoming the 28th member state. On 27 February 2012 Milanović visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was his first travel to a foreign country since he became prime minister. On the following day he visited Široki Brijeg and Mostar, where he met with members of the Croatian National Assembly, a political organisation of the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Milanović said that all he is asking for Croats in"
"2012, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Russia, and Switzerland in September 2013, Mexico in October 2013, Germany in December 2013, Greece, Norway, Sweden, and Slovakia in March 2014, Canada, Poland and Denmark in May 2014, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Ukraine in July 2014, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, El Salvador, and Venezuela in August 2014, Brazil and Uruguay in September 2014, 13 new countries in November 2014, Brazil in November 2014, Argentina in June 2015, Japan in September 2015, South Africa and Serbia in December 2015, and India in September 2016, where only"
"arrangements for the period between signing and entry into force of the treaty. The treaty required ratification by all EU member states and Croatia, conforming to their respective constitutional provisions, and deposition of the ratification instruments with the Government of Italy by 30 June 2013 to come into force on 1 July 2013. This process was completed on 21 June 2013. Ratification of the Treaty of Accession is summarized in the table below. In July and September 2012, officials of the Slovenian Parliament and the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that they would not ratify Croatia's Treaty of Accession"
"were 88 members (down from previous membership due to the withdrawal of Greece effective from 30 June 2013). Current (2013) members are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, People's Republic of China, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (which also acts as the Kingdom with the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, the Gambia, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kiribati, Laos, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, Republic"
"seventeen states have signed all integration agreements: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The agreements considered include the fifth stage of economic integration or EMU, the Schengen agreement and the Common Security and Defence Policy. Thus, among the 28 EU countries, 19 have joined the Eurozone, 22 have joined Schengen, and 27 compose the European Military. Further, some countries which do not belong to the EU have joined several of these initiatives, albeit sometimes at a lower stage such as the Customs Union, the Common Market (EEA), or"
"the European Council and included as participants without any caveats the Eurozone member states as well as Bulgaria, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The EU members which did not participate are Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom, all for different reasons. Croatia subsequently acceded to the EU in July 2013. The pact did not set up any structures or agreement for an independent monitoring of reform progress among its participating members. However, as a third party independent initiative aimed to keep institutional investors informed, the annual ""Euro Plus Monitor report"" conducts a comparative competitiveness ranking for all"
"ESM under EU law, was planned to enter into force on 1 January 2013. However, the last of the 27 European Union member states to ratify the amendment, the Czech Republic, did not do so until 23 April 2013, resulting in its entry into force on 1 May 2013. In June 2015, an updated EMU reform plan was released which envisaged that in the medium-term (between July 2017 and 2025) the ESM should be transposed from being an intergovernmental agreement to become fully integrated into the EU law framework applying to all eurozone member states, so that the ESM can"
"seen a slightly decrease to 4.6%, but the GDP has only had moderate growth. A projected government deficit, decrease in private investment, slow structural labor reforms, and slow absorption of EU funds have contributed to an overall concern for Croatia's lower-income population's poverty rates. Croatia officially became the 28th member state of the European Union on July 1, 2013, in the midst of an economic recession that lasted from 2008-2016. The primary goal of Croatia's Country Partnership Strategy FY14-17 has been to facilitate Croatia's addition to the EU by implementing structural financial reforms to aid convergence. With Croatia's entry to"
"to Regional Economic Integration Organizations as long as they are composed of sovereign states only and have sovereignty in (part of) the content of the convention. The convention entered into force on 1 January 2013 between Norway and Albania, with Bosnia-Herzegovina (2013), Ukraine (2013), the European Union (2014, except with respect to Denmark), Montenegro (2017), United States (2017), Turkey (2017), Kazakhstan (2017), Brazil (2017), Honduras (2017) and Belarus (2018) following suit. Because the EU acceptance of the convention applies in 27 EU countries, the convention applies in 37 countries worldwide. Three forms of maintenance form the core of the convention"
"Ireland joined on 31 December 1975. In 1987, Austria and Norway became member states. Finland joined in 1995, Portugal in 2000, Greece and Luxembourg in 2005, the Czech Republic in 2008, and Romania in 2011. Currently, it has 20 member states: all the EU member states before 2004, plus Czech Republic, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland. In addition, Canada has had the special status of a Cooperating State under a series of cooperation agreements dating since 1979. The political perspective of the European Union is to make ESA an agency of the EU by 2014. ESA is likely to expand"
"treaty according to their respective constitutional requirements. This threshold was surpassed with Germany's ratification on 27 September 2012, bringing the treaty into force on that date for the 16 states which had ratified the agreement. Estonia, the remaining eurozone state which had committed only 0.19% of the capital, completed their ratification on 3 October 2012. The ESM commenced its operations at a meeting on 8 October 2012. The TFEU amendment came into force on 1 May 2013, after the Czech Republic became the last member states to ratify the agreement. According to the text of the treaty, the ESM is"
"the EU in 2013. Macedonia also received candidate status in 2005, while the other Balkan countries have expressed a desire to join the EU but at some date in the future. Greece has been a member of NATO since 1952. In 2004 Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia became members of NATO. Croatia and Albania joined NATO in 2009. In 2006, Montenegro separated from the state of Serbia and Montenegro, also making Serbia a separate state. On October 17, 2007 Croatia became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term, while Bosnia and Herzegovina became a non-permanent"
"Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. Croatia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, and Turkey joined in 2001. In 2003, Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Holy See (a Council of Europe permanent observer), Macedonia, Russia, and Serbia signed the convention. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine followed in 2005. Montenegro joined in 2007. Finally, Kazakhstan (not a member of the Council of Europe) joined in 2010. This makes a total of 47 member states. Monaco and"
"it entered the European Union on 1 July 2013, thus joining EUROJUST), Iceland, and Macedonia. The New Council Decision on the Strengthening of Eurojust was signed in July 2008 to enhance Eurojust's cooperation with partners and third States and to generally strengthen its operational capabilities. According to the Eurojust Decision, Eurojust may act when two or more Member states are affected crimes in which Europol is entitled to act, including organised crime, terrorism and other forms of serious crime (unlawful drug trafficking, illegal moneylaundering activities, crime connected with nuclear and radioactive substances, illegal immigrant smuggling, trafficking in human beings, motor"
"on 20 December 2013, and following its signature in April 2014 the agreement is being provisionally applied pending ratification by Croatia, all EEA states, and the European Union. , the agreement has been ratified by 17 out of 32 parties. There are five recognised candidates for EU membership that are not already EEA members: Albania (applied 2009), Macedonia (applied 2004), Montenegro (applied 2008, negotiating since June 2012), Serbia (applied 2009, negotiating since January 2014) and Turkey (applied 1987, negotiating since October 2005). Albania and Macedonia have not yet started negotiations to join, nor has the European Union set any negotiations"
"the UK are also prepared to join in, subject to parliamentary vote. The treaty will enter into force on 1 January 2013, if by that time 12 members of the euro area have ratified it. Originally EU leaders planned to change existing EU treaties but this was blocked by British prime minister David Cameron, who demanded that the City of London be excluded from future financial regulations, including the proposed EU financial transaction tax. By the end of the day, 26 countries had agreed to the plan, leaving the United Kingdom as the only country not willing to join. Cameron"
"in February 2013 by 25 states (all EU member states except Spain, Poland and Croatia). It will enter into force on the first day of the fourth month after meeting three predefined conditions. The UPC comprises a ""Court of First Instance"", a ""Court of Appeal"" in Luxembourg, an ""Arbitration and Mediation Center"" and a common ""Registry"". The Court of First Instance will consist of a central division in Paris (with thematic sections in London and Munich), along with several local and regional divisions. European patents are granted by the European Patent Office under the 1973 European Patent Convention; 38 countries"
"was also complicated by the insistence of Slovenia, an EU member state, that the two countries' border issues be dealt with prior to Croatia's accession to the EU. Croatia finished accession negotiations on 30 June 2011, and on 9 December 2011, signed the Treaty of Accession. A referendum on EU accession was held in Croatia on 22 January 2012, with 66% of participants voting in favour of joining the Union. The ratification process was concluded on 21 June 2013, and entry into force and accession of Croatia to the EU took place on 1 July 2013. The main objective of"
"end 2018), the Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Turkey. An EU-Japan agreement is due to be signed in 2018. On 22 May 2018, the European Commission opened negotiations for bilateral free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand. Post-Brexit, the UK will need to negotiate its own free trade deals with all of these countries over a number of years. In the interim period, World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on tariffs will apply to British high-tech trade with EU third countries. The EU trades with 24 countries on the basis of WTO rules, including the United States of America, Brazil"
"in March 2013. Both parties aim to conclude a comprehensive agreement for goods, services and investment, eliminating tariffs, non-tariff barriers and covering other trade-related issues, such as public procurement. The Free Trade Agreement is expected to increase the EU's GDP by 0.6 to 0.8% and EU export to Japan by more than 32.7%. Despite the joint efforts made to foster economic co-operation, SMEs are still encountering challenges when entering the Japanese market: South Korea is the EU's 8th largest trading partner and EU has become South Korea's second largest trading partner and export destination. In 2011 – 2012, South Korea"