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The1973 enlargement of the European Communities was the first enlargement of the European Communities (EC), now theEuropean Union (EU).Denmark,Ireland and theUnited Kingdom (UK) acceded to the EC on 1 January 1973.Gibraltar andGreenland also joined the EC as part of the United Kingdom and Denmark respectively, but the DanishFaroe Islands, the otherBritish Overseas Territories and theCrown dependencies of the United Kingdom did not join the EC.
Ireland and Denmark both held referendums in 1972 inMay andOctober respectively, and the United Kingdom held areferendum in 1975, on membership of the EC, all which approved membership of the EC.Norway planned to accede, but this was rejected in areferendum held in September 1972. In 1992 Norwayagain applied to join, but voters again rejected the proposal in a1994 referendum.
Greenland laterwithdrew from the EC on 1 January 1985 after areferendum in 1982. This was followed by the United Kingdom holding areferendum in 2016 on membership which resulted in theUnited Kingdom voting to leave the EU.
The United Kingdom was still recovering from the economic cost of theSecond World War. Ireland, while an independent state, was economically dependent on the UK, which accounted for nearly 75% of Ireland's exports, as codified in the Anglo-Irish Free trade agreement of 1966.[1]
In 1960 theEuropean Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established and was formed byAustria,Denmark,Norway,Portugal,Sweden,Switzerland and theUnited Kingdom. These countries were often referred to as the Outer Seven, as opposed to theInner Six of the founding members of theEuropean Community (EC).[2] The EFTA was founded by a convention known as the Stockholm Convention in 1960, with the aim of liberalisation of trade in goods amongst its member states.On 31 July 1961 the United Kingdom,[3] Ireland[4] and Denmark[5] applied to join the EC. In 1963, after negotiations,[6] France vetoed the United Kingdom's application because of the aversion ofCharles de Gaulle to the UK,[4] which he considered a "trojan horse" for the United States.[1] De Gaulle resigned the French presidency in 1969.[7][8] In the 1970s, the EFTA states concluded free trade agreements with the EC.[9]
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| Member countries | Capital | Population | Area (km2) | GDP (billion US$) | GDP per capita (US$) | Languages |
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 Denmark | Copenhagen | 5,021,861 | 2,209,180 | 70.032 | $59,928 | Danish |
 Ireland | Dublin | 3,073,200 | 70,273 | 21.103 | $39,638 | English,Irish |
 United Kingdom | London | 56,210,000 | 244,820 | 675.941 | $36,728 | English |
| Accession countries | 64,305,061 | 2,524,273 | 767.076 | 11,929 | 3 | |
| Existing members (1973) | 192,457,106 | 1,299,536 | 2,381,396 | 12,374 | 4 | |
| EC9 (1973) | 256,762,167 (+33.41%) | 3,465,633 (+266.68%) | 3,148.472 (+32.21%) | 12,262 (−0.91%) | 7 |
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