Twenty-five years ago, France and the Federal Republic of Germany had similar populations of about 60 million inhabitants (like Italy and the United Kingdom). German reunification added more than 16 million new citizens from the former East Germany, making the enlarged Federal Republic the most populous country in the European Union by far.
自那时以来，欧洲改变了很多。二十五年前，法国和联邦德国人口相当，都拥有约6,000万居民（意大利和英国也是如此）。德国重新统一让它增加了来自东德的1,600多万公民，扩大后的德国成为欧盟人口最多的国家。