European Union: Difference between revisions
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* [[Lithuania]] - Joined in 2004. Former Soviet republic from 1940 to 1991. Historically, had been part of Lithuania-Poland, a large state in Eastern Europe 400 years ago. The most famous fictional Lithuanians are Hannibal Lecter and Marko Ramius (from ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]''), although they're actually only half-Lithuanian.
* [[Luxembourg]] - Tiny principality (actually a Grand Duchy) that was the smallest founding member. Actually has the highest per capita GNP of any country in the world, but this is a statistical fluke caused by the fact that many people from outside the principality work inside it without being resident or having citizenship.
* [[Malta]] - tiny island state that was a British colony from 1814 to 1964. The local language is actually a Semitic
* [[The Netherlands]] - One of the six founding members. Amazingly for such a small country, a rich history of trade, discovery, colonization and last but not least slavery, most of which is forgotten today. Trope-wise the country can be reduced to [[Freestate Amsterdam]], named after its capital, with its quaint architecture and less quaint red light district. A nest of ultraliberal, pot-smoking entrepreneurs who all speak perfect (if strongly accented) English.
* [[Poland]] - In the present day most strongly associated with migrant construction workers and Catholicism, which is not really justified. And [[Vodka Drunkenski|vodka]]. Played a crucial role in overthrowing Communism. Joined in 2004.
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* [[Spain]] - Once had a colonial empire, before losing it rather quickly in the 19th century. A restored monarchy since the collapse of the fascist government which was ruled by someone known to most Americans [[Saturday Night Live|because of his long lasting death]]. (Yes, he's still dead.) Home to a lot of British ex-pats and certain islands are famous (or infamous) for their clubbing, although the huge amount of German ex-pats in said islands practically make it part of Germany. Joined in 1986. Famous authors [[George Orwell]] and [[Ernest Hemingway]] fought in its Civil War in the 1930s. ([[Foregone Conclusion|The Republicans lost]].)
* [[Sweden]] - Joined in 1995. See [[Norse by Norsewest]], though less than 50% of the population are actually blond (with 25% having light brown hair.) Consistently rated as an ever so slightly better or worse place to live than Finland. The Swedish tolerance for sexual liberalism and porn has dropped significantly in recent years. Cleverly enough, prostitution is legal while purchasing the services of a prostitute is not. Known for reindeer, snow, neutrality and being confused with either Switzerland or Sudan.
* [[Britain]] - properly, the United
A number of other countries are interested in joining, most notably Turkey. Others include Iceland, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia and Ukraine. Croatia is the next state likely to join.<ref>in fact, they are slated to join in 2013 if every national parliament agrees. Yup, EU matters are surprisingly similar to [[The Lord of the Rings|Ent]] meetings.</ref>
The EU today is essentially a free trade and movement area (with a lot of common standards, including electricity at 230 V plus or minus 10%, although this isn't really a variation from previous standards used and old toasters still work), but also covers a considerable number of other areas, such as social policy, the environment and increasingly foreign affairs. The mantra is "free movement of people, goods, captial and services". You can emigrate and work freely within the Union (as well as vote in local and European elections wherever you live)- between certain countries, you don't even need a national ID. This group of countries are the "Schengen Countries" you might see referred to in
* The net result of all this has been a large-scale increase in Central European maids turning up in fiction, at the expense of other nationalities. Less paperwork, basically.
** This has also resulted in characters from non-EU states in Eastern Europe getting fake passports from states that are to work in the EU.
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Stories set in the [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|near future]] often contain a [[United Europe|more unified EU]].
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=== Media examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The Advanced
== [[Literature]] ==
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