FIGURE 5.2 The territorial growth of the EU showing its changing shape. The outer lines join extremities of the EU space. The shading on the lower right-hand map indicates the duration of membership

During the Second World War, Germany briefly occupied and organised much of Europe for its own purposes. For a time France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg were drawn into the German war orbit against their wishes. Those same countries later voluntarily became the founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952 and of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) in 1958. To counterbalance the EEC, EFTA was established in 1960. Subsequently, six additional countries joined the EEC-three of them, the UK, Denmark and Portugal, defecting from EFTA to do so-while in 1990 East Germany (the former communist GDR) was absorbed. Table 5.3 gives key dates in the development of the EU and Figure 5.2 shows its territorial expansion. One of the main reasons for creating and developing the EU was the fact