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The changing membership of the EU. Greenland is the large island at top left. After being a part of the European Communities (EC) for twelve years, Greenland withdrew in 1985. It had joined the EC in 1973 as a county of Denmark, even though a majority in Greenland was against joining.
The EU Common Fisheries Policy is an important reason why Greenland, Norway and Iceland stay outside the EU. There was hope that the Icelandic negotiations on EU membership 2011–2013 could create an exception to the policy but the negotiations never got that far.
Norway was a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960, which was originally set up as an alternative to the European Economic Community (EEC), the main predecessor of the EU. Norway had considered joining both the EEC and the European Union, but opted to decline following referendums in 1972 and 1994.
Norway planned to accede, but this was rejected in a referendum held in September 1972. In 1992 Norway again applied to join, but voters again rejected the proposal in a 1994 referendum . Greenland later withdrew from the EC on 1 January 1985 after a referendum in 1982 .
The Community later became the European Union in 1993 by virtue of the Maastricht Treaty, and established standards for new entrants so their suitability could be judged. The Copenhagen criteria stated in 1993 that a country must be a democracy, operate a free market , and be willing to adopt the entire body of EU law already agreed upon.
Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden all applied for full membership of the EU and the EU agreed to enter negotiations. The EU's change of heart was also due to predicted enlargement of the EU towards countries mostly in central Europe , invited by the European Commission in 1997 and eventually completed in 2004, and hence the wealthy EFTA ...
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Greenland is not for sale, its elected leader said on Monday, responding to comments made by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump regarding the "ownership and control" of the ...
Danish citizens residing on the islands are not considered citizens of a member state within the meaning of the treaties or, consequently, citizens of the European Union. [81] However, Faroese people, who are Danish citizens i.e. citizens of the Danish Realm, may become EU citizens by changing their registered residence to the Danish mainland.