EU three

The EU three, also known as EU big three, EU triumvirate, EU trio or simply E3, refers to France, Germany and Italy, a group that consists of the three large founding members of the European Union.^[1][2][3]

It had also been used to refer to the grouping of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, especially during the negotiations with Iran from 2003.^[4][5][6]

EU-3 (EU founding states)

Activities

Germany, France and Italy were part of the original Inner Six founders of the EU along with Benelux nations.

Negotiations for greater integration in the EU

Determined to keep the European project intact in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union in 2016, France, Germany and Italy called for greater integration in various trilateral summits in Berlin, Paris and Ventotene.^[7][8][9] More recently France, Germany and Italy have agreed a common position about the Paris climate agreement^[10] they have led a draft EU law to restrain Chinese acquisitions of European firms and technologies^[11] and they lead the EU sanctions on North Korea.^[12]

Statistics

EU Big Three

Country	Population	Votes in the Council (pre-Brexit)	Contribution to EU budget		MEPs	NATO Quint	G7/G8/G20	P5	G4 nations	Uniting for Consensus
France	66,616,416	13.05%	17,303,107,859€	16.44%	74	Y	Y	Y	N	N
Germany	80,716,000	16.06%	22,218,438,941€	21.11%	96	Y	Y	N	Y	N
Italy	60,782,668	12.00%	14,359,479,157€	13.64%	73	Y	Y	N	N	Y

EU-3 (largest economies in the EU until UK left)

The UK joined the European communities in 1973 and voted to leave in 2016, formally withdrawing from the EU in 2020.

Negotiations with Iran

In 2003, France, Germany and the UK launched negotiations attempting to limit the

Italy took part in a number of these meetings between 2006 and 2007.[18]^[19] In 2014, under the request of the Italian PM Matteo Renzi, Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini was named High Representative of the EU as the negotiations approached a conclusion and came to an end with the elaboration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015.^[20]

See also

Part of a series of articles on
UK membership of the European Union (1973–2020)
Accession Treaty of Accession 1972 1972 EC Act 1973 enlargement of the EC
1975 referendum Referendum Act (results)
Treaty amendments Single European Act, 1986 (UK ratification) Maastricht Treaty, 1992 (UK ratification) Treaty of Amsterdam, 1997 (UK ratification) Treaty of Nice, 2001 (UK ratification) Treaty of Lisbon, 2007 (UK ratification) Related: 2011 UK Act on new EU Treaty amendments EU-related British Acts Proposed European Constitution referendum European Union Bill 2004–2005
Members 2019–2020	(2019 election)