History of the European Union since 2004 the decision on 31 March 2010 to abolish the Western European Union. In 2007, the fifth enlargement completed with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January. 53 MEPs joined the Parliament along with two commissioners, for which two new posts were created in the Commission. The post created for the Romanian Commissioner was Multilingualism, which was criticised by some for its narrow scope. Negotiating process with Croatia as an official candidate country had been stalled for 10 months due to Slovenia's blockade of Croatia's EU accession, which was lifted in September 2009 after an agreement. Croatia has since
Demographics of the European Union population (2008) Death rate: 9.7 deaths/1,000 population (2008) Net migration rate: 3.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008) Marriage rate: 4.9 marriages/1,000 population (2007) Divorce rate: 2.0 divorces/1,000 population (2005) Sex ratio: (2006 est.) Infant mortality rate: (2005) Life expectancy: (2005) Total fertility rate: 1.59 children born/woman 2009 Live Births outside marriage: 40% of total live births in 2012 The demographics of the member states of the European Union: Demographics of the European Union The demographics of the European Union show a highly populated, culturally diverse union of 28 member states. As of 1 January 2018, the population of the EU is about