Which countries are EU members

Confused about which countries are in the EU? I was, so in the below article I have had a look into which countries are members of the European Union, which countries might become members in the future and along the way i have noted some other interesting facts about the EU too.

The European Union is composed of twenty seven independent sovereign countries which are known as member states :

They are listed below in alphabetical order :

Austria,

Belgium,

Bulgaria,

Cyprus,

Czech Republic,

Denmark,

Estonia,

Finland,

France,

Germany,

Greece,

Hungary,

Ireland,

Italy,

Latvia,

Lithuania,

Luxembourg,

Malta,

The Netherlands,

Poland,

Portugal,

Romania,

Slovakia,

Slovenia,

Spain,

Sweden,

The United Kingdom.

Ever Wondered which countries might be next to join the EU ?

There are three official candidate countries, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. The western Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia are officially recognised as potential candidates and Kosovo has been granted similar status. Iceland could possibly be fastracked given the recent ecomomic and currency crisis they have been dealing with.

More information about the European Union (E.U)

The EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community.

The fiftreen EU member states that use the Euro € as their official currency are : Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain.

Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia all have their own currency pegged to the Euro.

Total EU population : 491,018,683 (July 2008 est.)

Total EU land : total: 4,324,782 sq km ( which is still not even half the size of the United States of America )

Highest mountain in the EU : Mont Blanc in France (border with Italy) at 4800 metres high.

Average life expectancy for whole EU : 77 years of age , 80 for ladies, 74 for gents.

English is the most widely spoken language in the EU (just under 50% of the EU opoulation can speak it).German is the language with highest percentage of the EU population having it as their mother tongue at around 20% as it is also spoken by Austrians.

The other official langauges of the EU are : Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish

Major Sale - UK hotel rooms for £10

Just had a tip off about this big sale at lastminute.com . . . .

• What ? 700 hotel rooms in the UK for £10
• Where ? London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Brighton, Bristol, Leeds, Bolton, Heathrow, Glasgow, Inverness, Hull, Norwich, Nottingham, Swansea and various other smaller locations.
• How ? - Dedicated When it's gone it's gone page at lastminute.com
• When ? - Thursday 27th November 10:00 UK time

Good Luck.

Jet2 launches city breaks

News from the North . . .

jet2 Holidays has followed their beach package holidays with the launch of City Break Holidays to their city destinations. Customers can fly from 5 Northern Airports to Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Prague, Palma, Venice, Nice, Barcelona. The dynamic packages also offer a car-hire in the booking flow.


Jet2 Route information:
Paris (CDG) Flies from LBA in the winter 7 days a week, flies from LBA 7 days a week in the summer.

Amsterdam (AMS) flies from LBA, 6 days a week twice a day in winter, flies from LBA, 6 days a week twice a day in Summer.

Rome (FCO) Flies from MAN 4 days a week mid-Feb - mid-Nov, flies from LBA 4 days a week in Summer.

Prague (PRG) flies from LBA 3 days a week in the winter, flies from LBA 4 days a week in the Summer, flies from EDI 3 days a week in the winter, flies from EDI 5 days a week in the summer.

Palma (PMI) no winter schedule, flies from BFS 4 days a week in the summer, flies from BLK 5 days a week in the summer, flies from LBA 7 days a week in the summer (some days twice a day), flies from MAN 5 days a week in the summer.

Venice (VCE) flies from EDI 2 days a week in the summer, flies from LBA 4 days a week in the summer.

Nice (NCE) flies from LBA 7 days a week in the summer, flies from MAN 7 days a week in the summer.

Barcelona (BCN) flies from LBA 3 days a week in the winter, flies from LBA 7 days a week in the summer.

Flexibility is the key to villa sales success

Flexible stays key to overseas villa stays - that's according to Hoseasons

Hoseasons claims to have seen agent bookings rise by 35% for winter European villa holidays year over year so far.


Hottest villa destinations
Lanzarote, Tenerife, Cyprus, Gozo and the Costa del Sol have all contributed to the increase.


The operator’s villa holidays are priced as accommodation-only, allowing agents to put together bespoke travel packages and cover more than 700 properties.

Business development director Pali Badwal said:

“It is clear that people want to get away from all the doom and gloom at home, and will still book a winter break – providing the product and price are right. The key is flexibility and value: holidaymakers are looking for accommodation with flexible start days and holiday durations, so that their travel agent can source the flights from their local airports which suit their budget and schedule. "

“We are finding that our properties which are priced by the night, rather than by the week, are doing well, as they not only enable the travel agent to demonstrate value, but also to sell the exact holiday dates which suit their customers. "

Last month Hoseasons reported their UK apartments programme was going well.

Villa Owner ? : Get 15 months for the price of 12 with leading villa rental site.

British Travel Tastes Survey

UK travel consumers decisons are driven by price and more will plan a UK holiday as a consequence of the so called credit crisis.

A poll of more than 2,100 respondents by travelsupermarket.com showed that for most people (77%)price was the most important factor.

Other influences on travel decisions included location and familiarity, according to travelsupermarket, which said 59% have enjoyed a holiday destination so much that they have returned.


And a survey of 2,000+ people by Towergate Bakers Insurance revealed almost half (49%) of British parents are planning to take their children on a British seaside holiday.

It said a desire for nostalgic holidays as well as the credit crunch and environmental concerns were driving the trend.

Just over a quarter (27%) were planning a caravan holiday and nearly a third (29%) were looking to book a country cottage holiday, said Towergate Bakers. A fifth (20%) said they would go camping.

Competition to win £3500 Expedia voucher

Edit : 23rd November, Comp now closed.

Fancy winning a £3500 Expedia voucher in time for Christmas ?

In this simple to enter competition you could be one of two lucky winners of a £3500 Expedia.co.uk gift voucher. When questioned the hotel jungle team reckoned they would like to take a trip to the hotel with the biggest pool in the world!

Good Luck . . .


The Prize must be redeemed in a single transaction by 30th April 2009 and travel must be completed within 6 months of the booking date. Usual booking terms and conditions apply.

QE2 leaves for final voyage today

The QE2 cruise liner is sailing off to a new life as a floating hotel in Dubai this evening.

The QE2 was launched by the Queen on the Clyde in Scotland in 1967. Since then she has sailed more than 5.5 million nautical miles - more than any other ship and the equivalent of travelling to the moon and back 13 times.

She has carried more than 2.5 million passengers and completed 25 world cruises.
She has crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times and after four decades in service she is still the most powerful and fastest merchant ship - able to go faster backwards than most cruise ships can go forwards.

Permanent Resident

An 89 year old lady who sold her home and lived on the QE2 for 14 years, Beatrice Muller, is actually losing her home today. She is the QE2's only permanent resident.

Some years ago she sold her property in the US to live on the liner full time.
"I have been on this wonderful ship off and on for 14 years. This is now my only home,"
she told BBC News.

In 1999 Mrs Muller's husband of 57 years died on the QE2 as the ship sailed out of Bombay.
Nine months later she moved into a cabin on the legendary 67,000-tonne liner. She pays about £3,500 a month and says she prefers it to any retirement home. With elegant surroundings, lavish meals, cocktails and dancing every night it is easy to see why Mrs Muller fell in love with the ship.

She said:
"We're spoiled to death, we get to see the whole world and meet the most incredible people."

Once the liner reaches Dubai, Mrs Muller, known as Bea to the crew, will be without a home, although she has no plans to return to dry land.
"I'll keep on staying at sea, I don't want to go back to housekeeping," she said.