This is a timeline of European Union history and its previous development. __NOTOC__ Distinct periods Ideas before 1948 1948–1957 1958–1972 1973–1993 1993–2004 2004–present
Individual years European Coal and Steel Community
European Economic Community
European Communities
European Union
Key events 1948 – Treaty of Brussels establishing the Western Union; 1948 – Formation of the International Authority for the Ruhr 1949 – Treaty of London establishing the Council of Europe 1950 – Schuman Declaration proposes pooling French and German markets for coal and steel 1951 – Treaty of Paris creates the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) 1954 – Paris Agreements; Western Union transformed into Western European Union 1957 – Treaty of Rome creates European Economic Community (by "The Six": Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany) 1963 – Ankara Agreement initiated a three-step process toward creating a Customs Union which would help secure Turkey's full membership in the EEC. 1963 – Charles de Gaulle vetoes UK entry 1967 – ECSC, EEC and Euratom merged 1973 – Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the UK 1979 – First direct elections to Parliament 1981 – Accession of Greece 1985 – Delors Commission, Greenland leaves Community. 1986 – Single European Act; Accession of Portugal and Spain; flag adopted 1987 – Turkey has applied to join the membership. 1989 – The fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe 1992 – Maastricht Treaty formally called the Treaty on European Union - The European Union is born and Euro was introduced as the fellow currency (Denmark and the UK are not included in the EMU (European Monetary Union)). 1993 – Copenhagen criteria defined 1995 – Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden; Schengen area established 1997 – Treaty of Amsterdam 1999 – Fraud in the Commission results in resignation 1999 - The Euro as an 'accounting currency' officially replaces twelve national currencies 2002 – Euro banknotes and coins physically replace the twelve national currencies 2003 – Treaty of Nice 2004 – Accession of ten countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia); signing of Constitution 2005 – France and the Netherlands reject the Constitution after own internal referendums (for France it was a binding one only) 2005 – Accession negotiations for full membership started with Croatia and Turkey. 2007 – Accession of Bulgaria and Romania 2009 – Lisbon Treaty abolishes the three pillars of the European Union 2013 – Accession of Croatia 2016 – UK holds a Membership Referendum and votes to leave the European Union 2017 – Start of Brexit: On 29 March 2017, the Government of the United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The UK was due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 at 11 p.m. GMT, when the period for negotiating a withdrawal agreement was set to end 2017 – Negotiations between UK and the EU officially started in June 2017 2020 – UK leaves the EU after the Brexit withdrawal agreement takes effect on 31 January 2020 at 11 p.m. GMT 2022 – Granted full candidacy status with Ukraine and Moldova. 2024 – Accession negotiations for full membership started with Moldova and Ukraine. Structural evolution
See also History of the European Union Ideas of European unity before 1948 History of European integration (1948–1957) History of the European Communities (1958–1972) History of the European Communities (1973–1993) History of the European Union (1993–2004) History of the European Union (2004–present) European Coal and Steel Community European Economic Community
External links A timeline of the EU – BBC News. The history of the European Union – Europa European Union Politics Timeline - Oxford University Press: European Union Politics Resource Centre