The EU three, also known as the EU big three, EU triumvirate, EU trio or simply E3, refers to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

; the three large founding members of the European Union (EU). These countries are generally regarded as the three most politically and economically influential EU member states, with the largest populations, highest military expenditures, and largest economies by nominal GDP, collectively accounting for over half of the EU's economic output. Before

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

, the term was also used to refer to the grouping of France, Germany, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, especially during the negotiations with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

from 2003.

EU-3 (EU founding states)

Activities

Germany, France and Italy were part of the original

Inner Six The Inner Six (also known as the Six or the Six founders) are the six founding member states of the European Union, namely Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. They were the original members of the European ...

founders of the EU along with

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

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 Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Ventotene Ventotene (; locally ; or ; , or ) is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy. The municipality of Ventotene, of the province of Latina (Lazio) had 708 perman ...

. More recently France, Germany and Italy have agreed a common position about the

Paris climate agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

they have led a draft EU law to restrain Chinese acquisitions of European firms and technologies and they lead the EU sanctions on

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Statistics

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

Iranian nuclear program The nuclear program of Iran is one of the most scrutinized nuclear programs in the world. The military capabilities of the program are possible through its mass enrichment activities in facilities such as Natanz and Arak. In June 2025, t ...

, which led to the Tehran Declaration of 21 October 2003 and the voluntary Paris Agreement of 15 November 2004. EU 3 + 3, more commonly referred to as the E3+3, refers to a grouping which includes the EU-3 and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was coined when these states joined the EU diplomatic efforts with Iran in 2006. In the United States and Russia, it is more commonly known as

P5+1 P5 may refer to: In science and technology * 311P/PANSTARRS, also known as P/2013 P5 (PANSTARRS), an asteroid discovered by the Pan-STARRS telescope on 27 August 2013 * P5 Truss Segment, an element of the International Space Station * Period ...

, which refers to the five permanent members of the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

plus Germany. Italy took part in a number of these meetings between 2006 and 2007. In 2014, under the request of the Italian PM

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...

, Foreign Minister

Federica Mogherini Federica Mogherini (; born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. A member of the Democratic ...

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 The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; (, BARJAM)), also known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement to limit the Iranian nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and other provisions. The agreement was finalize ...

in 2015.

References

External links

''EU calls for UN action over Iran''
BBC News, 12 January 2006 * {{cite news, url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HD01Ak01.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060410073032/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HD01Ak01.html, url-status=unfit, archive-date=10 April 2006, title=Iran: Options for a face-saving solution, author=Kaveh L Afrasiabi, date=1 April 2006, publisher=

Asia Times ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kongbased English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

, access-date=2009-06-17 Geography of the European Union France and the European Union Germany and the European Union United Kingdom and the European Union Italy and the European Union E3 meaning for 3 strongest countries in European Union: France, Germany and UK (left in 2020 by Brexit)