European Union Brochure Information

EU Map

European Union Timeline

• 1950• French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman

presented a plan for cooperation between European states, ‘The Schuman Declaration’. This plan led in April 1951 to the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community. It included six countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). It brought them together as equals, cooperating within shared institutions.

• 1957• Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg,

the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome, which launched the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom). A Common Market was created where goods, services, capital and people could move freely.

European Union Timeline

• 1968• The Customs Union was created:

all import tariffs among the six EEC countries were eliminated.

• 1979• The first election of the

European Parliament took place through direct elections.

European Union Timeline

• 1986• The Single European Act was

adopted, setting out a timetable for the completion of the Common Market by 1 January 1993.

• 1989• The Iron Curtain fell, creating an

opportunity to unify Europe. This led to the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990. Democracy took root in the countries of central and eastern Europe.

European Union Timeline

• 1992• The Maastricht Treaty was

signed, which created the European Union (EU). It set new ambitious goals: monetary union by 1999, European citizenship, new common policies – including a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) – and cooperation in matters of internal security.

• 1997• The Treaty of Amsterdam was

signed, which further developed the CFSP as well as employment and social protection policies.

European Union Timeline

• 2001• The Treaty of Nice was signed,

which reformed the institutions and reinforced fundamental rights, security and defense and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

• 2002• Euro notes and coins came into

circulation in a number of Member States as national currencies were phased out. The euro continues to be adopted by more and more EU countries – the seventeenth and most recent country to adopt the currency was Estonia.

European Union Timeline

• 2009• The Lisbon Treaty came into force in December. It strengthened the

EU’s ability to act on the global stage, and gave a greater voice to the European Parliament, national parliaments and citizens.