European Union medalist at the 2004 Olympics

Medals won by athletes from the EU member states

	Name of CON	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	14	16	18	48
2	France	11	9	13	33
3	Italy	10	11	11	32
4	United Kingdom	9	9	12	30
5	Hungary	8	6	3	17
6	Greece	6	6	4	16
7	Netherlands	4	9	9	22
8	Sweden	4	1	2	7
9	Spain	3	11	5	19
10	Poland	3	2	5	10
11	Austria	2	4	1	7
12	Slovakia	2	2	2	6
13	Denmark	2		6	8
14	Czech Republic	1	3	4	8
15	Lithuania	1	2		3
16	Belgium	1		2	3
17	Ireland	1			1
18	Latvia		4		4
19	Portugal		2	1	3
20	Finland		2		2
21	Slovenia		1	3	4
22	Estonia		1	2	3
	Cyprus
	Luxembourg
	Malta
	Total CONs EU	82	101	103	286

Member States of the European Union (EU) compete separately in the Olympic Games, such as the 2004 Olympics. In fields such as world economics and even politics, the EU is increasingly it is considered as a player in its own right, in addition to, or instead of, individual Member States. Considering the character of the EU, one cannot compare it with other international organizations like NATO, Mercosur or the G8.

Despite this, it is unlikely that one day the countries of the Union will end up competing under a single flag in international sporting events. This is because this supranational organization is not a federation and retains the individuality of its member states ('United in diversity' is the official EU motto). What is likely, however, is that there will be enhanced cooperation in preparation for the Olympics. However, it is not clear what effect this could have on the registration of Member States in possible competitions, but in any case it would entail numerous advantages for them. First of all, the EU medal table is considerably higher than that of any NOC (National Olympic Committee), although it is also true that if the EU competed as a single team, the number of its representatives would be significantly reduced, which would probably make that the total number of medals obtained was less. However, with appropriate Community programmes, the worst performing Member States could be helped. Furthermore, training facilities, coaches and sports specialists could be shared between Member States.

Such enhanced cooperation is already common in many other areas, and, without going any further, the failed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe mentioned sport as one of the fields susceptible to "complementary, supportive, or coordination' at European level.

European Union sports policy