EU three
{{Short description|France, Germany, and Italy as the major EU founding members}}
{{Other uses|EU3 (disambiguation)}}
The EU three, also known as the EU big three, EU triumvirate, EU trio or simply E3, refers to France, Germany, and Italy; the three large founding members of the European Union (EU).{{cite news |last=Herszenhorn |first=David M. |date= 16 June 2022|title=Rhetoric and reality collide as France, Germany, Italy back Ukraine’s EU bid |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/rhetoric-and-reality-collide-as-france-germany-italy-back-ukraines-eu-bid/ |work= Politico|location= |access-date=19 August 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://euobserver.com/political/134076|title=EU divided on answer to Brexit 'wake up call'|access-date=17 June 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-28/brexit-germany-france-italy-vow-no-informal-talks/7548940|title=Brexit: Germany, France, Italy vow no talks before Britain makes formal decision on EU - Brexit: UK EU Referendum - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)|newspaper=ABC News|date=27 June 2016|access-date=17 June 2017}} These countries are generally regarded as the three most politically and economically influential EU member states, with the largest populations, highest military expenditures, and largest economies by nominal GDP, collectively accounting for over half of the EU's economic output.{{Cite web |title=These are the EU countries with the largest economies |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/02/eu-countries-largest-economies-energy-gdp/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250404133028/https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/02/eu-countries-largest-economies-energy-gdp/ |archive-date=2025-04-04 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=World Economic Forum |language=en}}
Before Brexit, the term was also used to refer to the grouping of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, especially during the negotiations with Iran from 2003.{{cite book|last=Bretherton|first=Charlotte|author2=John Vogler|title=The European Union as a Global Actor|publisher=Routledge|date=2006|pages=174|isbn=9780415282451}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yl2KAgAAQBAJ&q=EU+trio&pg=PA161|title=European Economic Integration: Limits and Prospects|first=Miroslav|last=Jovanovic|date=11 September 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134866571|access-date=17 June 2017|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vo1_DAAAQBAJ&q=EU+big+three&pg=PA210|title=Britain, France and the Entente Cordiale Since 1904|first=A.|last=Capet|date=10 October 2006|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780230207004|access-date=17 June 2017|via=Google Books}}
EU-3 (EU founding states)
{{Multiple image
| align =
| direction =
| width =
| image1 = Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F078072-0004, Konrad Adenauer.jpg
| width1 = 105
| caption1 = Konrad Adenauer, founding father of the European Union and Chancellor of Germany (1949–1963)
| image2 = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-19000-2453, Robert Schuman.jpg
| width2 = 100
| caption2 = Robert Schuman, founding father and Prime minister of France (1947–1948)
| image3 = Alcide de Gasperi 2.jpg
| width3 = 118
| caption3 = Alcide De Gasperi, founding father and Prime minister of Italy (1945–1953)
}}
=Activities=
=Negotiations for greater integration in the EU=
Determined to keep the European project intact in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union in 2016, France, Germany and Italy called for greater integration in various trilateral summits in Berlin, Paris and Ventotene.{{cite web|url=http://m.faz.net/aktuell/politik/europaeische-union/angela-merkel-besucht-italiens-premier-matteo-renzi-14409021.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_2|title=Merkel besucht Renzi Wie das Europa-Tandem zum Trike wurde|website=FAZ.NET|date=31 August 2016|access-date=17 June 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/europe-is-already-moving-on-from-brexit|title=Europe Is Already Plotting A Future Without Britain|website=BuzzFeed|access-date=17 June 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thelocal.it/20160901/eu-italy-big-league-germany-france-brexit|title=Italy joins Europe's big league, but is it primed to fail?|date=1 September 2016|access-date=17 June 2017}}
More recently France, Germany and Italy have agreed a common position about the Paris climate agreement{{Cite web|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/france-italy-and-germany-say-paris-climate-agreement-cannot-be-renegotiated-a3555011.html|title=Germany, France, Italy: Paris Agreement 'cannot be renegotiated'|date=June 1, 2017|website=Evening Standard}} they have led a draft EU law to restrain Chinese acquisitions of European firms and technologies{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/eu-drafting-law-to-restrain-chinese-takeovers/a-42339012|title=EU drafting law to restrain Chinese takeovers | DW | 28.01.2018|website=DW.COM}} and they lead the EU sanctions on North Korea.{{Cite web|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-policy/news/germany-france-italy-seek-tougher-eu-sanctions-on-north-korea/|title=Germany, France, Italy seek tougher EU sanctions on North Korea|first=Johan Stavers|last=says|date=September 4, 2017}}
=Statistics=
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+EU big three |
| width="100px"|Country
!Population !width="160px"|Votes in the Council (pre-Brexit) !colspan=2|Contribution to EU budget !MEPs !P5 |
|---|
| {{flagcountry|France}}
|66,616,416 |13.05% |17,303,107,859{{euro}} |16.44% |74 |{{Y}} |{{Y}} |{{Y}} |{{N}} |{{N}} |
| {{flagcountry|Germany}}
|80,716,000 |16.06% |22,218,438,941{{euro}} |21.11% | 96 |{{Y}} |{{Y}} |{{N}} |{{Y}} |{{N}} |
| {{flagcountry|Italy}}
|60,782,668 |12.00% |14,359,479,157{{euro}} |13.64% |73 |{{Y}} |{{Y}} |{{N}} |{{N}} |{{Y}} |
EU-3 (largest economies in the EU until UK left)
The UK joined the European communities in 1973 and voted to leave in 2016, formally withdrawing from the EU in 2020.
=Negotiations with Iran=
File:EU ministers in Iran for nuclear talks, 21 October 2003.jpg, Sa'dabad Palace, Tehran, October 2003]]
In 2003, France, Germany and the UK launched negotiations attempting to limit the Iranian nuclear program, which led to the Tehran Declaration of 21 October 2003 and the voluntary Paris Agreement of 15 November 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/board-welcomes-eu-iran-agreement/ |title=IAEA Board Welcomes EU-Iran Agreement: Is Iran Providing Assurances or Merely Providing Amusement? |author=Peter Crail, Maria Lorenzo Sobrado |publisher=NTI |date=1 December 2004 |access-date=3 April 2015}}{{cite book |pages=94–97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHa6HNW1wskC |title=European Union and Strategy: An Emerging Actor |author=Kjell Engelbrekt, Jan Hallenberg |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |isbn=9781134106790 |access-date=3 April 2015}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hFHBQAAQBAJ |title=The European Union as a Diplomatic Actor |author=Joachim Koops, Gjovalin Macaj |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2014 |isbn=9781137356864 |access-date=3 April 2015}}
EU 3 + 3, more commonly referred to as the E3+3,{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuclear-talks-between-iran-and-e33-to-continue-in-november |title=Nuclear talks between Iran and E3+3 to continue in November |publisher=Foreign & Commonwealth Office |date=16 October 2013 |access-date=8 November 2013}} refers to a grouping which includes the EU-3 and China, Russia, and the United States. It was coined when these states joined the EU diplomatic efforts with Iran in 2006. In the United States and Russia, it is more commonly known as P5+1, which refers to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.{{cite web|url=http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/09/30/p51_or_e33|title=You say P5+1, I say E3+3|access-date=17 June 2017|archive-date=5 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905064612/http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/09/30/p51_or_e33|url-status=dead}}
Italy took part in a number of these meetings between 2006 and 2007.{{Cite web|url=https://www.linkiesta.it/it/article/2013/10/16/perche-litalia-non-partecipa-ai-negoziati-con-liran/17019/|title=Perché l'Italia non partecipa ai negoziati con l'Iran?|date=October 16, 2013|website=Linkiesta}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.affarinternazionali.it/stampa.asp?ID=198|title=...such meetings took place in Berlin and New York...}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2014, under the request of the Italian PM Matteo Renzi, Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini was named High Representative of the EU as the negotiations approached a conclusion and came to an end with the elaboration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UytJDQAAQBAJ&q=Mogherini&pg=PA41|title=Rapporto sulla politica estera italiana: il governo Renzi: Edizione 2016|first1=Ettore|last1=Greco|first2=Natalino|last2=Ronzitti|date=September 30, 2016|publisher=Edizioni Nuova Cultura|isbn=9788868127138|via=Google Books}}
See also
{{United Kingdom in the European Union}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4604088.stm EU calls for UN action over Iran], BBC News, 12 January 2006
- {{cite news|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HD01Ak01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060410073032/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HD01Ak01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=10 April 2006|title=Iran: Options for a face-saving solution|author=Kaveh L Afrasiabi|date=1 April 2006|publisher=Asia Times|access-date=2009-06-17}}
Category:Geography of the European Union
Category:France and the European Union
Category:Germany and the European Union
Category:United Kingdom and the European Union
Category:Italy and the European Union
E3 meaning for 3 strongest countries in European Union: France, Germany and UK (left in 2020 by Brexit)