, Spain, UK

European Free Trade Association (EFTA): established - 4 January 1960;
effective - 3 May 1960

aim - to promote expansion of free trade

members - (4) Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland

European Investment Bank (EIB): established - 25 March 1957; effective
- 1 January 1958

aim - to promote economic development of the EU and its predecessors,
the EEC and the EC

members - (15) Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, UK

European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN): note - acronym
retained from the predecessor organization Conseil Europeenne pour la
Recherche Nucleaire

established - 1 July 1953; effective - 29 September 1954

aim - to foster nuclear research for peaceful purposes only

members - (20) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK

observers - (7) European Commission, Israel, Japan, Russia, Turkey,
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), US

European Space Agency (ESA): established - 31 May 1975

aim - to promote peaceful cooperation in space research and technology

members - (15) Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, UK

cooperating states - (2) Canada, Hungary

European Union (EU): note - evolved from the European Community (EC)

established - 7 February 1992; effective - 1 November 1993

aim - to coordinate policy among the 15 members in three fields:
economics, building on the European Economic Community's (EEC) efforts
to establish a common market and eventually a common currency to be
called the 'euro', which superseded the EU's accounting unit, the ECU;
defense, within the concept of a Common Foreign and Security Policy
(CFSP); and justice and home affairs, including immigration, drugs,
terrorism, and improved living and working conditions

members - (15) Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, UK

new member states - (10) Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia; note - states
will be admitted into the Union 1 May 2004

membership applicants - (3) Bulgaria