Three times EU or its precursor shrank

While Britain will vote on Thursday to decide its future in the European Union (EU), this is not the first time the "bloc has shrunk", reported AFP, as published by the Hindustan Times.

In the past, the AFP report said, Greenland, Algeria and the island of Saint-Barthelemy have all exited the bloc or its precursor.

Greenland

The island nation was part of Denmark when the latter joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the precursor to the EU, in 1973.

According to the report, after winning extensive autonomy from Denmark, Greenland's government held a referendum over the nation's place in the EEC in 1982.

The 'Out' camp won by 53%, according to the report, largely due to an anti-European mood "fuelled by overfishing in Greenland’s waters by industrial fleets from the EEC".

Greenland's exit, or “Greexit”, from the EEC, which was founded in 1957, officially happened in February 1985.

However, the report added that Greenland is still officially one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union. Additionally, the report said that it remains eligible for some EU funding under the EU-Greenland partnership.

Algeria

The report said that since the North African country had remained part of France after the second world war, legally it was also part of the EEC. 

After winning its independence, Algeria became a sovereign state in 1962 and subsequently left the EEC, the report added.

However, the report said that for years afterwards Algeria enjoyed "unrestricted access to the European market".

According to the report, it was only in 2005 that EU and Algeria formalised their relations by signing an association agreement.

Saint-Barthelemy

This small group of islands in the Caribbean was part of the EU by virtue of being a commune of Guadeloupe, which is also a French “department”, the report said.

According to the report, in a 2007 referendum, Saint-Barthelemy voted to become a separate French administrative unit, and in 2012 it became an overseas territory. The report added that as a result, it is no longer part of the EU.

The report added that while the EU lost 25 square kilometres of "prime Caribbean territory", the inhabitants of the islands continue to be "French citizens with EU status" and "can even use the euro as their currency under a special agreement".