EU expansion: why more countries want to join the union 15 March 2013 Last updated at 13:09 Help The economy of the European Union has been shrinking, industrial production has fallen, and unemployment has been rising, but there is still a queue of nations wanting to join. In Strasbourg, Jo Coburn gauged reaction to further expansion of the EU, while the UK considers its future in the union, which has 27 members for now, and Croatia is joining later this year. And she looked back to how the former EEC started with just six members.