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KEY DATES IN THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
9 May 1950. The French Foreign Minister Robert Schumann submits a plan laying out a common market for coal and steel. The author of the plan is the head of the French General Planning Commission, Jean Monet. For this reason 9 May is now commemorated as Europe Day.
18 April 1951. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands sign the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The Treaty of Paris comes into force on 23 July 1952.
27 March 1957. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands sign the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) – the Treaties of Rome come into force on 1 January 1958.
8 April 1965. The Member States sign the Merger Treaty, which establishes common executive bodies for all three communities. The Treaty comes into force on 1 July 1967. Since that date the European Community (EC) title is used.
6 July 1968. European Community Member States begin to trade without internal tariffs on imports. Uniform tariffs are put in place for third world countries.
24 April 1972. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) begins to operate, which allows only marginal movement of exchange rates between the individual currencies of the Member States. This is the first step towards the introduction of a common European currency.
1 January 1973. The European Community expands by the accession of Denmark, Ireland and Great Britain.
1974 The European Council is established – the new institution of the European Community was set up by a communiqué following the 1974 Paris Summit. The European Council is a regular meeting of the Heads of State of the European Community Member States. The European Council was integrated into the body of primary EC legislation by the Single European Act (which encompasses all international Treaties signed by the Member States). The Treaty on the European Union defines the European Council as the body which determines the political direction of the EU.
7 through 10 June 1979. The first direct elections for the European Parliament are held.
1 January 1981. Greece joins the European Community.
14 June 1985. The Member States sign the Schengen Agreement, which foresees the abolition of internal border controls, the unification of asylum and visa policies and the establishment of the Schengen Information System (SIS). This main information system ensures access to important information for the police and customs authorities of individual Member States.
1 January 1986. Spain and Portugal join the European Community on.
17 February 1985. The Single European Act (SEA) is signed in Luxembourg (by nine Member States), and on 28 February in The Hague (by Denmark, Italy and Greece). This Treaty is the first significant revision of the founding Treaties of the Community. Its main goal is to establish a common internal market by the end of 1992.
1 July 1987. The Single European Act comes into force on.
1990. The first phase of the Economic and Monetary Union begins. The main goals are the liberalization of capital movement and the participation of all Member States in the Exchange Rate Mechanism (each currency has a set base exchange rate to ECU and this rate is consequently the base for mutual exchange rates between the currencies).
7 February 1992. In Maastricht, the Foreign Ministers and Finance Ministers of the EC Member States sign the Treaty on the European Union (EU). This is the second major revision of the founding Treaties of the Community. This Treaty introduces the term ‘European Union’, the three-pillar structure (the Maastricht Temple), the principle of subsidiarity (which ensures that decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen), the citizenship of the Union and the requirement to create the Economic and Monetary Union by the end of 1999.
1 November 1993. The Treaty on the European Union comes into force.
22 June 1993. The Copenhagen Criteria are set forth by the European Council, which define the conditions that must be met by any country seeking membership of the EU. These include the requirements for stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, existence of a functioning market economy, and integration of the acquis communautaire (accumulating the laws and regulations which were adopted during the individual phases of integration of the community and creation of the single market) into the national legislation along with assuming the commitment arising from EU membership.
1 January 1994. The European Monetary Institute, which coordinates the introduction of a common European currency (the Euro), begins to function.
1995 Finland, Austria and Sweden join the EU.
2 October 1997. The Foreign Ministers of the EU Member States sign the Treaty of Amsterdam, which revises the Treaty on the European Union.
The European Commission unveils its Agenda 2000, which seeks to prepare the EU for further expansion. Agenda 2000 also contains the evaluation of the candidate countries prepared on the basis of the Copenhagen Criteria.
1 June 1997. The European Monetary Institute winds up its activities and its role is assumed by the European Central Bank, which begins to operate as the management centre for the monetary policies of the Eurozone countries.
1 January 1999 The common currency is introduced for cashless transfers.
1 May 1999. The Treaty of Amsterdam comes into force.
March 2000. At the meeting of the European Council in Lisbon, the Heads of the Member States launch a new strategy for the next decade (the Lisbon Strategy), which aims to invigorate the EU and by 2010 to make it the most dynamic and competitive economy in the world.
26 February 2001. The Foreign Ministers of the EU Member States sign the Treaty of Nice. This Treaty addresses the institutional reform of the EU after its expansion in 2004.
1 January 2002. The Euro becomes the legal tender in twelve EU Member States (Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Greece and Spain).
February 2002 until June 2003. A summit on the future development of the EU is held. The summit results in the draft treaty establishing a constitution for Europe, which is announced on 20 June 2003 at the meeting of the European Council in Thessaloniki.
1 February 2003. The Treaty of Nice comes into force.
1 May 2004. The European Union is joined by the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.
29 October 2004. In Rome, the Heads of the EU Member States sign the Treaty on the Constitution for Europe.
2005 The ratification processes of the European Constitution begin in individual EU Member States, which is required for the treaty to come into force. Due to the results of the referendums in France and the Netherlands, where the treaty is turned down by the citizens, the treaty fails to be ratified.
1 January 2007. Bulgaria and Romania join the EU. Slovenia adopts the Euro as its currency.
13 December 2007. The Heads of the EU Member States sign the Lisbon Treaty. This Treaty aims to ensure that the EU can function effectively in the future, after the failure of the EU Constitution.
21 December 2007. The Schengen Area expands to include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.
1 January 2008. The Euro becomes the currency of Cyprus and Malta.
Individual Member States begin the ratification process for the Lisbon Treaty.
12 June 2008. A referendum held in Ireland rejects the Treaty.
12 December 2008. Switzerland joins the Schengen area.
1 January 2009. Slovakia adopts the Euro as its currency.
4-7 June 2009. Elections for the Members of the European Parliament (2009-2014).
01.12.2009 the Lisbon Treaty entered into force.
01.12.2009 Herman Van Rompuy was elected as a President of the European Council.
1.01.2010 Spain takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the fourth time. It is the first country to hold the presidency under the Lisbon Treaty and the new ‘trio presidency system’
07.05.2010 Heads of State and Government within the euro area agree to deeper fiscal consolidation, stronger economic coordination and budgetary surveillance to defend the euro
17.06.2010 At a European Council meeting in Brussels, EU leaders adopt a 10-year strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth: Europe 2020.
01.01.2011 Estonia adopts the euro as its currency, becoming the 17th member of the euro area. Three new European financial supervisory authorities begin operating: the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority.
18.01.2011 The first "European semester" gets under way – a six-monthly cycle of economic policy coordination between EU countries which is meant to help prevent economic crises like the one in 2008 - 2010.
17.01.2012 The members of the European Parliament elected German Socialist Martin Schulz as President of the European Parliament.
02.03.2012 The European Council re-elects Herman Van Rumpuy as President of the European Council.
01.04.2012 The European Citizens' Initiative becomes a reality, enabling citizens to propose EU legislation on specific issues for the first time. One million citizens from at least one quarter of EU Member States can invite the European Commission to put forward proposals for legal acts in areas where it has the power to do so.
08.10.2012 The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) enters into force. It is the central part of the so-called 'firewall' aimed at ensuring financial stability in the euro area.
10.12.2012 The European Union is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2012 at a ceremony in Oslo.
01.01.2013 The Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (popularly known as the 'fiscal compact') enters into force.
01.07. 2013 Croatia joins the EU, bringing the total number of member countries to 28. The EU now also has 24 official languages.
02.12.2013 The Council adopts the long-term EU budget for 2014-2020, the 'Multiannual Financial Framework'. This marks the end of two and a half years of negotiations and allows a new generation of EU spending programmes to be implemented as of 1 January 2014.
01.01 20142011 Latvia adopts the euro as its currency, becoming the 18th member of the euro area
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