The European Economic Community was officially established by the [?] in [?]. It the consisted of six member states- [?]. The European Union , as it is now known, consists of [?] member states and presidency of the organisation changes [?]. Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined in [?], Greece joined in 1981, [?] in 1986, Austria, Finland and [?] in 1995. On 1 May [?], 10 new states from Eastern and Southern Europe joined the community. The EU is now the world's largest trading bloc by population, with about 455 million citizens. [?] its achievements, the community has been [?] establishing the Single Market in 1993 and launching the Euro in [?]. Former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath , who died in July 2005, regarded his greatest [?] as securing Britain's entry to what was the Common Market in 1973.