Page 148 - Key to Social Studies 5

Let’s Observe

Countries of the EU

Italy

Being one of the rst countries to join the EU

in 1957, Italy was one of the founders of the

EU. Joining the EU was considered a great

help to the country’s situation at the time, as

Italy was going through a lot of con icts and

was having a fear of falling under

communism.

The period between 1958 and 1963 was a

booming period in the Italian economy, and it

was called the Economic Miracle, as it

achieved industrial growth rates of more than Flag of Italy

8 percent per year.

Sweden

Sweden was one of the last countries to join

the EU, where the majority of its people voted

to join in 1994 and its o cial membership

was in 1995.

Sweden was also su ering from extreme

in ation and a scal crisis, which made its

political establishments in favor of joining the

Union. However, Sweden voted against using

the Euro as its o cial currency, and the Krona

is still used as the o cial currency to this day. Flag of Sweden

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