Greenland–European Union relations Greenland's fishing fleet. However, this deal was struck down by the European Court of Auditors, who felt the amount the EU was paying was too high for the quantity of fish caught. Greenland originally joined the then-European Communities with Denmark in 1973. At that time Greenland had no autonomy from Denmark, which it gained in 1979. Greenland achieved some special treatment such as restrictions on business for non-residents and fisheries. Greenland left in 1985, following a referendum in 1982 with 53% voting for withdrawal after a dispute over fishing rights. The Greenland Treaty formalized their exit. There has been some
Country separate countries—the Faroe Islands, and Greenland—which are almost fully internally self-governing. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a sovereign state, comprises four separate countries: Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. Although not sovereign states, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are countries (depending on context), which collectively form the United Kingdom—a sovereign state that is commonly, but erroneously referred to as a country. The United Kingdom is a Union of four separate countries brought about by a series of International treaties and legislated for by several Acts of Union, the first of which being the Acts of Union 1707 in both