23rd June: The European Union

Today is the EU Referendum, where Britain decides whether to remain in the European Union or leave. This post isn't about whether we should stay or go but is ten facts about the EU generally - but who knows, I might help a last minute waverer make up their mind!

1. There are 28 member states, between them accounting for over 7% of the world's population.
2. The six founding states were Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The most recent country to join was Croatia in July 2013. Albania, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey are all on the road to membership. Iceland suspended negotiations in 2013. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have applied to be considered.
3. To become a member, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen. These require a stable democracy that respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law.
4. The EU has 24 official languages. European parliament debates are translated into all of them. There are also six semi-official languages, which people can use in correspondence and major treaties are translated into. These are Catalan, Galician, Basque, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. The most widely spoken mother tongue in the EU is German. 16% of the population are native German speakers. When languages other than the mother tongue are included, the most widely spoken language is English.
5. There are 751 members of the European Parliament Germany, as the most populous country has the most representatives - 99.
6. No member state has ever left the EU (so far) although Greenland (an autonomous province of Denmark) withdrew in 1985. (Although at the time of this update, the UK had proved that power-hungry politicians, greedy capitalists, racist thugs and arrogant, ignorant people who seem incapable of using apostrophes and capital letters, and believe any crap they see painted on the side of a bus, slightly outnumber the intelligent and sensible people, that its election system is so rubbish that someone who only gets 46% of the vote can still win and force through any policy they want, no questions asked.)
7. The flag is a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background. The blue represents the West, while the number and position of the stars represent completeness and unity, respectively. The flag was originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe.
8. Other symbols are a motto - "United in Diversity", an official anthem - an instrumental version of the prelude to the Ode to Joy, the 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony; Europa, a figure from Greek mythology after whom the continent was named, and who was raped by Zeus in the form of a white bull (make of that what you will). Europa appears on the 2013 series of Euro banknotes. The bull is depicted on all residence permit cards. Charles the Great, also known as Charlemange, nicknamed "Father of Europe"is also used a symbol and one of the central EU buildings in Brussels is named for him.
9. The EU won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.
10. When the Euro currency was introduced in 2002, the initial letters of the countries adopting it spelt out ‘baffling pigs’. Five more countries have now joined, so now it spells out ‘begs piffling scams’.

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Sick of the referendum? Why not get into a jolly good book until it's all over? Like my new novel, for example:

New! 

Running in the Family

An alien craft approaches Earth. The alien on board is a fugitive, fleeing from an arranged marriage to freedom on our world. She befriends James, a genetics student, and shares her knowledge about the future of the human race with him. 

A science experiment gone wrong gifts James with superhuman abilities; but they come at a price, leading him to mentor others like himself. He founds a group of amateur heroes called the Freedom League.

The Freedom League suffers a string of losses and tragedies; it seems doomed to failure; but one of its members, Peter Mayfield, has vowed to form a group of his own. He is determined to keep his vow, despite having lost Rosemary, the one person he wanted by his side to help him.

Lizzie Hopkins is a talented young athlete and dancer. Peter sees her in action and guesses her exceptional abilities are far more than they seem. He offers to train and mentor Lizzie - but her mother is violently opposed to his suggestion.

As soon as she is old enough, Lizzie takes matters into her own hands; she seeks out Peter and his group for herself. She soon makes a discovery which shakes her world at its very foundations. Her search for the truth will resolve many unanswered questions, but it will also stir up old heartbreaks dating back to the Freedom League's early days.

Available from:

Createspace;   Amazon Paperback;   Amazon Kindle