... , another group of countries gets its foot in the European door when at the Helsinki summit in December 1999 the EU decides to open membership negotiations with another six countries. Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta now form the second wave of candidate countries. JANUARY 1999: THE EURO Ã"S BORN Eleven countries meet the convergence criteria and so pass the test ... ...
... in eastern and southern Europe: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. These countries are set to join the EU in 2004. Bulgaria and Romania expect to follow a few years later and Turkey is also a candidate country. To ensure that the EU can continue functioning efficiently with 25 or more members, its decision-making system ... ...
... Denmark 13 Cyprus 6 Germany 99 Czech Republic 20 Greece 22 Estonia 6 Spain 50 Hungary 20 France 72 Latvia 8 Irealnd 12 Lithuania 12 Italy 72 Malta 5 Luxembourg 6 Poland 50 Netherlands 25 Romania 33 Austria 17 Slovakia 13 Portugal 22 Slovenia 7 Finland 13 Sweden 18 United Kingdom 72 (http://europa.eu.int/comm/nice_treaty/index_en.htm) The Treaty of Nice actually ... ...
