Initially, the UP will cover 17 EU states: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Germany (DE), Italy (IT), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Portugal (PT), Slovenia (SI) and Sweden (SE). Romania (RO) will be available with effect from 1 September 2024, so a request for a Unitary Patent after this date will consist of 18 states. The system may be further expanded to other participating EU states later.