Timeline Of The European Union

Timeline of the European Union http://www.carleton.ca/ces/EULearning/Timeline%20of%20the%20European %20Union.ppt

•So, now that you have a better idea of what the European

Union actually is, let’s see how the EU has evolved over the years. •Follow through this slideshow to find out about significant events in the history of the EU.

1946 - 1950 •Europe needs to recover from the effects of WWII •With aid from the United States, European countries begin

post-war reconstruction. •Discussions start about the possibility of cooperation between several countries.

1951 •April 18: France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg,

Germany, and Italy (also known as The Six), sign the Treaty of Paris. •This establishes the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Purpose: First

to make decisions about the coal and steel industry in these countries. President: Jean Monnet

1957

•“The Six” signs the Treaties of Rome – treaties that

established the European Economic Community (ECC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) Recap:

Now there are three European “communities”: the ECSC, the EEC, and Euratom.

1965

•April 8: “The Six” signs the Merger Treaty in Brussels The treaty merges the executives of the three Communities (the ECSC, ECC, Euratom), giving them a Single Commission and Single Council

Entered into force 1 July 1967 From this point in time on, this web site will refer to these three communities as the “European Community.”

1973

•1 January: Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom join

the European Community •Oil crisis affects the European Community

1979 •13 March: The European Monetary System (EMS) enters

into force. The EMS is based on a European currency unit, whose value is based on several national currencies, weighted according to the relative strength of each. •7-10 June: for the first time, the members of the European Parliament are selected by direct election.

1981 •1 January: Greece joins the European Community

1986 •1 January: Spain and Portugal join the European

Community •17 & 28 February: The Single European Act is signed (to come into force 1 July 1987). The SEA is a wide revision of the 1957 Treaties of Rome, and includes issues such as the single market.

1989 •9 November: the Berlin Wall opens. East Germans can now

travel to West Germany via Berlin.

1990 •19 June: The Schengen Agreement is signed. This

abolishes border checks between participating member states of the European Communities. •3 October: Germany is reunited.

1992 •The Maastricht Treaty on the European Union is signed (to

enter into force on 1 November 1993). The basic components are: a common foreign security policy Closer cooperation on justice and home affairs Creation of an economic and monetary union 

1993

•1 January: The Single Market is created

1995 •1 January: Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the European

Union.

1997 •2 October: The Amsterdam Treaty is signed (to come into

force 1 May 1999). This treaty gives the EU new powers and responsibilities.

1999 •1 January: The Euro replaces the currencies of 11 EU

countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain*). This single currency is first launched on the money markets. *Greece eventually joins these Euro countries.

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2001

•26 February: To prepare the EU’s decision making system

for enlargement, the Treaty of Nice is signed (to come into force 1 February 2003).

2002 •1 January: The Euro (bank notes and coins) comes into

circulation in the Euro area countries. •31 May: The 15 EU member states ratify the Kyoto Protocol,

which calls for worldwide reduction of air pollution.

2004 •1 May: Ten new states join the European Union: Cyprus,

the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia