21/05/2019
1 July 2013: Joining of Croatia
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On the 1st of July 2013, the Republic of Croatia joined the European Union as its 28th member. The country had been an official membership candidate since 2004. Croatia is currently the last state to join the EU. Since the creation of the EEC in 1957, the six founding members were joined by a total of 22 more European countries in seven groups (in 1973, 1981, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2007 and Croatia in 2013).
While the joining of Croatia was, to date, the most recent accession to the EU, there are other countries trying to join as well. Now, there are five candidate countries: Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Additionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have indicated interest in joining the Union, but have not been granted official candidate status yet.
There are several conditions that have to be fulfilled in order for a country to join the European Union. Aside from unanimous consent by the existing member states and consent by the countries’ population (determined by a referendum), these criteria, referred to as the “Copenhagen Criteria”, include factors such as the rule of law and a functioning market economy. Joining the EU is a lengthy process that takes many years, such as for Croatia, which spent 9 years as an official candidate.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_enlargement_of_the_European_Union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enlarg/candidates.htm
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/conditions-membership_en