Member countries of EEC

Members

The six states that founded the EEC and the other two Communities were known as the "inner six" (the "outer seven" were those countries who formed the European Free Trade Association). The six 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. The former East Germany became part of the EEC upon German reunification in 1990. Following the creation of the EU in 1993, it has enlarged to include an additional sixteen countries by 2013.

  Founding members of EEC

  Later members of EEC

Flag	State	Accession	Language(s)	Currency	Population (1990)[17]
	Belgium	25 March 1957	Dutch, French and German	Belgian franc[18]	10,016,000
	France	25 March 1957	French	French franc	56,718,000
	West Germany/Germany[note 1]	25 March 1957	German	German mark	63,254,000[19]
	Italy	25 March 1957	Italian	Italian lira	56,762,700
	Luxembourg	25 March 1957	French, German and Luxembourgish	Luxembourgish franc[18]	384,400
	Netherlands	25 March 1957	Dutch	Dutch guilder	14,892,300
	Denmark	1 January 1973	Danish	Danish krone	5,146,500
	Ireland	1 January 1973	Irish and English	Irish pound	3,521,000
	United Kingdom[20]	1 January 1973	English	Pound sterling	57,681,000
	Greece	1 January 1981	Greek	Greek drachma	10,120,000
	Portugal	1 January 1986	Portuguese	Portuguese escudo	9,862,500
	Spain	1 January 1986	Spanish[note 2]	Spanish peseta	38,993,800

Member states are represented in some form in each institution. The Council is also composed of one national minister who represents their national government. Each state also has a right to one European Commissioner each, although in the European Commission they are not supposed to represent their national interest but that of the Community. Prior to 2004, the larger members (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) have had two Commissioners. In the European Parliament, members are allocated a set number seats related to their population, however these (since 1979) have been directly elected and they sit according to political allegiance, not national origin. Most other institutions, including the European Court of Justice, have some form of national division of its members.