Who are the founding members of the European Union?

In 1957 Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands founded what was then known as the European Economic Community or EEC. The EEC is now known as the EU and has 28 members. The EU came into existence in 1993 when there were 12 members. There were the 6 original members, though by then West Germany had been reunified with East Germany and is now known as Germany. The 6 other countries at that time were Ireland, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain and Portugal.