The European Union -
Chronology of Political Events

1944

• July - Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, conference to plan for the postwar global economy.

1945

• May 8 - Wehrmacht (German army) surrenders, marking formal end of World War II in Europe.
• October 24 - Founding of the United Nations.

1946

• March - Winston Churchill makes "iron curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri.
• September - Churchill makes "United States of Europe" speech in Zurich.

1947

• March - Announcement of the Truman Doctrine - President Truman argued that the U.S. needed to be involved in Europe to prevent the spread of communism.
• June 5 - Marshall Plan speech - US Secretary of State George Marshall offers Europe aid for economic recovery.
• July - Committee on European Economic Cooperation established following a meeting in Paris of sixteen European countries.
• October - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) - United Nations-associated international treaty organization working to eliminate barriers to trade between nations, launched with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

1948

• January - Benelux customs union enters into force - economic grouping of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
  January - GATT enters into force.
• March - Treaty of Brussels, creating the Western Union, signed by the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and the Benelux countries, pledging mutual military assistance in the event of an attack by Germany or Russia, while also seeking to foster greater economic, social, and cultural co-operation between the five states.
• April 16 - Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) founded - Paris-based successor to the Committee on European Economic Cooperation, created to coordinate the European recovery effort.
• May 7 - 11 - Congress of Europe meeting held at The Hague in the Netherlands, with about eight hundred attendees, which primarily debated the future and goals of Europe and the European countries.
• June 24 - Soviet Union begins blockade of Berlin, stopping all ground transport into the city, lasting eleven months, prompting a response with the Berlin airlift of supplies.

1949

• April 4 - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed with the Washington Treaty, between the United States, Canada, and 10 European countries, providing for the collective military defense of Western Europe.
• May 5 - Council of Europe, the first post-war political organization, established with the signing of the Treaty of London (Westminster) by ten European states - France, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. Since it was given limited authority, it failed to become an organization with political power. (Although similar in name, The Council of Europe should not be confused with the later European Union bodies, the Council of the European Union or the European Council.)

1950

• May 9 - Schuman Declaration (Schuman Plan) - Plan announced by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, calling for the consolidation of coal and steel resources of France and West Germany under a common authority. Schuman's proposal would lead to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951.
• June - Intergovernmental conference begins on the Schuman Plan proposals and negotiations to develop a plan for its implementation. Negotiations would lead to the signing of the Treaty of Paris in April 1951, which formally established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)
• October - European Defence Community (EDC) draft draft initiative pubished. Although it would result in a draft treaty being signed in May 1952, the idea of forming a European Army was met with resistance and eventually abandoned in August 1954, when the French National Assembly refused to ratify it and voted it down.

Treaty of Paris

1951

• April 18 - Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) signed. Formed by six European states - Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands - popularly referred to as the 'Six' founder members. Would come into force on July 23, 1952. The ECSC would be officially disbanded on July 23, 2002.
• April 18 - The European Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community, as part of the Treaty of Paris, is established. It would serve as the predecessor court to the European Court of Justice of the European Union, which would be established and given a formal structure by the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009.

1952

• March - Nordic Council formed. Body of the Nordic states serving primarily in an advisory role. Was unable to secure an agreement on a Nordic economic union.
• May - European Defence Community (EDC) draft treaty signed by the six members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The EDC was abandoned in August 1954 after the French National Assembly rejected it.
• July 23 - Treaty of Paris (European Coal and Steel Community Treaty) comes into effect.

1953

• March - Draft treaty of a European Political Community drawn up. The idea would be effectively abandoned in August 1954 when France refused to ratify the European Defence Community (EDC) treaty.

1954

• May - French army suffers defeat in Indochina (now Vietnam) when 12,000 French troops besieged in the village of Dien Bien Phu surrender.
• August - Plans for a European Political Community (EPC) and a European Defense Community (EDC) abandoned when France refused to ratify the European Defence Community (EDC) treaty.
• October - Western European Union (WEU) established when seven founding members signed a Protocol to the Treaty of Brussels (March 1948) agreement in Paris. Most of its military functions had been absorbed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949, and it served as more of an advisory body.
• December - The European Court of Justice (of the European Coal and Steel Community) issues its first ruling.

1955

• May - Western European Union (WEU) comes into operation, headquartered in London.
• May - Warsaw Pact, alliance led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, and intended to counter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) signed.
• June - Messina Conference - Meeting of the foreign ministers of the Six - the six founder members of the European Communities from the 1950 Schuman Plan - Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands - held in the Italian city of Messina, to consider new initiatives for European integration.
• June - Council of Europe adopts a flag with twelve gold stars on a blue background.

1956

• June - Negotiations open on the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC), also known as Euratom. The EEC and Euratom would be created with the signing of the Treaties of Rome in March 1957 and come into force in January 1958.
• October - Soviet Union invades Hungary in response to the Hungarian revolution.
• October - November - Suez Crisis following the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The Treaties of Rome

1957

• March 25 - Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) signed in Rome. A separate document, also often referred to as the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), was signed. The two documents are often referred to as the Treaties of Rome. Would come into force in January 1958.

1958

• January - Treaties of Rome (European Economic Community (EEC) Treaty and Euratom Treaty) come into force. The EEC structure consisted of four core institutions: the Council of Ministers, the Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly (European Parliament), and the Court of Justice.
• February - Benelux Economic Union Treaty signed in The Hague.
• June 1 - Charles de Gaulle returns to power in France. Decides to keep France in the EEC.
• July - Conference of agricultural ministers and lobbies held in Stresa, Italy to discuss a common agricultural policy (CAP).

1960

• January 4 - Stockholm Convention signed establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Consisted of seven states - Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
• May - EFTA comes into force.
• November - Benelux Economic Union comes into force.
• December - Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) established under US leadership as a successor to the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) (1948). Based in Paris, with 36 member countries, including non-European members, such as the US, Canada, and Japan. Serves as a forum for ideas, and provides analysis and reports in the economic area.

1961

• February - First summit of the European Economic Community (EEC) heads of government.
• July - Ireland applies for EEC membership.
• July 31 - British Prime Minister Harold Maxmillan announces that the UK will apply for EEC membership.
• August - Britain and Denmark apply for EEC membership.

1962

• April - Norway applies for EEC membership.
• October - Cuban missile crisis.

1963

• January 14 - French President de Gaulle vetoes Britain's EEC membership.
• January 22 - Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (Elysée Treaty) signed by France and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Pact was intended to create greater political cooperation and integration, particularly in four areas: defence, foreign affairs, education, and culture.
• July 20 - Yaoundê Convention between EEC members and the 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

1964

• May - GATT Kennedy Round (named after US President John F. Kennedy) begins. Talks would continue through May 1967 and would result in the EEC reducing import duties by about 35 per cent on industrial products and up to 50 per cent on individual products, such cars. The US would reciprocate with reductions on EEC products. Agreement could not be reached on agricultural products.

Merger Treaty

1965

• April 8 - Merger Treaty signed. Treaty formally integrated the executives of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC)(Euratom), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and the European Economic Community (EEC). Treaty created a single European Commission and a single Council of Ministers (officially the Council of Ministers of the European Communities). Treaty would come into effect on July 1, 1967.
• July 1 - January 30, 1966 - Empty Chair crisis. Seven month period when France boycotted meetings of the Council of Ministers and the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), effectively paralyzing the European Communities (EC) by preventing an official vote on proposals. The dispute was primarily over a timetable for qualified majority voting.

1966

• January 30 - Luxembourg Compromise. Agreement reached by the Six members of the EEC which ended the Empty Chairs crisis. The EEC agreed to French demands to grant a right of veto over proposals where a country's interests might be adversely affected by a proposal.

1967

• May 11 - Second application for EEC membership by the UK.
• May - Second application for EEC membership by Denmark and Ireland.
• June - Arab-Israeli War.
• July - Norway applies for EEC membership.
• July 1 - Merger Treaty integrating the three European Communities comes into force. One major change was the change in names. What had been the European Economic Community (EEC) was now collectively known as the European Communities or the European Community (EC).
• November 27 - Charles De Gaulle vetoes UK's second application for EEC membership.

1968

• May - Student protests in France.
• July 1 - Customs union negotiations agreement. EEC member states reach agreement on the elimination of internal tariffs, in accordance with the timetable established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

1969

• April - Charles de Gaulle resigns after losing referendum on proposed government reforms. Replaced as president by Georges Pompidou.
• December - Hague Summit - Leaders of the EEC SIX meet in The Hague agree on principles for enlargement, and the goal of an economic and monetary union. Pierre Werner, prime minister of Luxembourg, commissioned to prepare a report on Economic and Monetary Union.

1970

• June - Membership negotiations with the UK, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway resume. Will conclude in January 1972.
• October 8 - Werner Report on economic and monetary union released. Report outlines a three-stage process to create a full-fledged Economic and Monetary Union by 1980.

1971

• August 15 - US President Richard Nixon abandons gold standard, suspending the convertibility of the dollar into gold. Marks the end of the Bretton Woods system of fixed and stable exchange rates.
• December - Smithsonian Agreement - Agreement which emerged from a meeting of the monetary authorities from the world's leading developed countries held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The US agreed to limit the amount the dollar would be devalued against gold, and the other countries agreed to revalue their currencies relative to the dollar.

1972

• January - Membership negotiations with UK, Denmark, Ireland, and Norway conclude.
• March - Snake - Non-binding political commitment to limit EEC currency exchange rate fluctuations to 4.5 per cent (+ or - 2.25 of the US dollar). Name came from a reference to "snake in the tunnel," meaning that rates could fluctuate within a defined band. Would prove to be ineffectual since individual countries could not stabilize their currency within the required limits and would be abandoned
• May - Irish referendum approves EEC membership.
• May - European Social Fund becomes operational.
• September - Norway, in a referendum rejects EEC membership. Rejection was related to the recent discovery of massive oil reserves in the North Sea.
• October - Danish referendum approves EEC membership.

1973

• January 1 - Denmark, Ireland, and the UK join the European Communities. Brings membership to nine.
• July - Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) opens in Helsinki, Finland. First conference will produce the Helsinki Final Act, an agreement in three main areas: economic co-operation, human rights, and exchange of information about military activities. Will produce the Helsinki Accords in 1975. In December 1994, the Budapest summit conference would adopt a new name, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
• October - Yom Kippur War.
• October - Oil Shock - In response to Israeli victories in the Yom Kippur War, Saudi Arabia and Egypt put an embargo on shipments of crude oil to Western nations that were providing aid to Israel. World oil pricesd tripled, which sent the world into recession.
• GATT Tokyo Round begins. Will continue through 1979.

1974

• December 9-10 - Paris summit meeting, an informal ad hoc gathering of government leaders, adopts the name European Council. Although it does not have legal standing within the European Community, it will serve as an informal group. (It should not be confused with the later Council of Europe, nor with the Treaty of Rome's Council of Ministers.)

1975

• February 28 - First Lomé Convention. Agreement associating forty-six African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) with the EEC.
• March - First meeting of the Europeaan Council in Dublin.
• March - European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) created.
• June - UK referendum on continued European Community (EC) membership.
• June - Greece applies for European Community (EC) membership.
• November - First meeting of the G-7 (finance ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) held at Rambouillet, France, although the G-7 did not become the official title until May 1986.
• Helsinki Accords (Helsinki Final Act) finalizes the negotiations started at the 1973 Helsinki summit.

1976

• June - Negotiations open on Greek European Community (EC) membership.
• September 20 - Act on the direct election of the members of the European Parliament.

1977

• March - Portugal applies to join Community.
• July - Spain applies to join Community.
• October - European Court of Auditors (ECA), established under the 1975 Treaty of Brussels, holds its first meeting.

1978

• December - European Council establishes the European Monetary System.

1979

• February - Court of Justice issues "Cassis de Dijon" decision involving a French fruit liqueur, which decided that a member state could not prohibit the import and sale of a product manufactured and sold in another state.
• March - European Monetary System (EMS), which included, as one of its core elements the European Currency Unit (ECU), along with the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), which linked the exchange rates of participating members to a permissible range, comes into operation.
• June - First direct elections to European Parliament. The Parliamentary Assembly had called itself the European Parliament in 1962, but this was largely symbolic and the European Parliament would only be given a legal basis with the Single European Act (SEA) in 1987.
• December 24 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1981

• January 1 - Greece joins the European Communities, bringing membership to ten.
• December 13 - Declaration of martial law in Poland.

1982

• February - Greenland votes to leave the European Economic Community (EEC) .
• April 2 - June 14 - Falklands War between Argentina and the UK.

1983

• December - Agreement on a Common Fisheries Policy, which generally dealt with access to stocks by member states and the preservation of stocks (limiting fishing to prevent depletion), two conflicting goals.

1984

• January - Free trade area established between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Community.
• February 14 - European Parliament adopts the Spinelli "Draft Treaty Establishing the European Union", a proposal for reforms encouraging greater integration. Would mainly serve to influence future negotiations.
• June - Second direct elections to the European Parliament.
• June 26 - Fountainbleau Summit of the European Council agrees to near-permanent rebate for the UK - how much it had to contribute to the European budget - along with a curb on CAP milk expenditures. Agreemeent was reached on enlargement to include Spain and Portugal.

1985

• January 1 - Jsnuary 22, 1995 - Jaques Delors begins first term as president of the European Commission. Will serve through 1995.
• January - Introduction of European passports.
• June 14 - Schengen Agreement - Name of document originally signed by the five founder members of the European Communities - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Germany - in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg. The countries agreed in principle to work toward the formation of a border-free Schengen Area. Would not be implemented until 1995.
• June - Milan Summit - Publication of the Dooge Committee "white pzper" report on proposals for institutional reform which might lead to greater integrration and a single market.
• September - Intergovernmental conference (IGC), as recommended by the Dooge Committee report, opens to begin negotiations on a new single market treaty.
• December - European Council agrees to draw up the Single European Act (SEA).

Single European Act

1986

• January 1 - Portugal and Spain join the European Community, bringing membership to twelve.
• February 17 - Nine member states sign the Single European Act (SEA).
• February 28 - Denmark, Italy, and Greece sign the Single European Act (SEA).
• 1986 - Single European Act (SEA) ratified by the Member States' parliaments.
• May - Flag of European Community (EC) flies for the first time.
• 1986 - 1994 - GATT Uruguay Round.

1987

• February - Delors I package of ambitious budgetary measures proposed by the European Commission.
• April - Turkey applies to join the European Community.
• July 1 - Single European Act (SEA) comes into force.

1988

• February - Meeting of the European Council in Brussels approves Delors I package of budgetary measures proposed by the European Commission in 1987.
• October - Court of First Instance (CFI) created by the Single European Act (SEA). The Court of First Instance was created to reduce the burden of the Court of Justice, by transferring minor cases to the CFI, which was composed of one judge from each member state. It would begin to operate in September 1989. On November 30, 2009, under the Treaty of Lisbon, it would be renamed the General Court.

1989

• April - Delors Plan report on economic and monetary union published.
• June - Third direct elections to the European Parliament.
• June 26-27 - Madrid European Council approves the Delors report on the Economic and Monetary Union.
• July - Austria applies to join the European Community.
• September - Court of First Instance begins to operate.
• September - December - Collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe.
• November 9 - Fall of the Berlin Wall.
• December 8-9 - Strasbourg European Council decides to convene an intergovernmental conference on a new treaty, including treaty changes necessary for implementation of the recommendations of the Delors Plan.
• December - Social Charter (Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers) adopted at the Strasbourg summit by eleven of the twelve member states, but not the UK.

1990

• June - Schengen Convention signed. Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Luxwmbourg, and the Netherlands agree in principle to work towards the formation of a border-free Schengen Area. Agreement will be implemented in March 1995.
• June - Negotiations open on the creation of a European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA was a trading area composed of the members of the European Communities and members of the European Free Trade Association (essentially European countries who were not members of the European Community, but wanted to participate in the EC internal market).
• July - Cyprus and Malta apply to join the Community.
• August - Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
• October 3 - German reunification. East Germany (German Democratic Republic (GDR) unites with West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany))
• December - Intergovernmental conference (IGC) of EC finance ministers begins with the goal of finalizing the process of bringing about an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), which would involve the creation of a European Central Bank, a common currency, and measures intended to coordinate economic operations.

Maastricht Treaty

1991

• January - US-led invasion expels Iraq from Kuwait.
• March - European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an independent bank owned and operated by its shareholder countries, with an initial goal of assisting the countrie of Eastern Europe make the transition to free-market economies, opens in London.
• June - Outbreak of war in Yugoslavia.
• July - Sweden applies to join the European Community.
• November - Negotiations on the creation of a European Economic Area (EEA) are completed.
• December - European Council, at the Maastricht summit, agrees to the Treaty on European Union (TEU)
• December 26 - Breakup of the Soviet Union. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is officially dissolved.

1992

• February 7 - Representatives of the member states of the European Communities (EC) sign agreement, at Maastricht (The Netherlands), establishing a European Union. (While the title of the treaty was "Treaty Establishing a European Union," officially the organization was still the European Communities (EC).) The Maastricht Treaty will, after the Lisbon Treaty (2009), be renamed the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The Treaty establishing the European Community (the 1957 Treaty of Rome), with the Lisbon Treaty, will be renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of European Union (TFEU).
• March - Finland applies to join the European Union.
• May - France and Germany announce the creation of a 35,000-member military unit Eurocorps, at the Franco-German summit in La Rochelle, France.
• May - Switzerland signs European Economic Area (EEA) membership agreement and applies to join the European Union.
• June 2 - Denmark holds referendum vote and rejects terms of the Maastricht Treaty.
• September - Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) crisis - A wave of currency speculation against ERM currencies, caused a number of country devaluations. As a result, Italy and the UK withdrew from the ERM. The Exchange Rate Mechanism had been established in 1979 as part of the European Monetary Sysstem (EMS).
• September 20 - French referendum on the Maastricht Treaty narrowly (51 per cent) approves.
• November - Norway applies again to join the European Union.
• November - Eurocorps inaugurated.
• December - Swiss referendum rejects membership of the European Economic Area (EEA). Swiss application for European Union membership suspended.

1993

• January - Single European market comes into force.
• February - Membership negotiations open with Austria, Finland, and Sweden.
• April - Membership negotiations with Norway.
• May - Second Danish referendum accepts terms of Maastricht.
• June - Copenhagen Criteria (accession criteria) adopted. The European Council, meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark adopt a set of conditions that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe must meet if they are to be admitted to the European Union. Generally, the criteria required that applicant states possess stable institutions which guarantee democracy, respect the rule of law and human and minority rights, possess a functioning free-market economy able to cope with competitive pressure and market forces, and be capable of meeting the obligations of EU membership.
• November 1 - Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on European Union) enters into force. The European Community institutions, the executives of the Europeam Atomic Energy Community, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Economic Community (EEC), which had been merged in April 1965, under the Merger Treaty, became one of three "pillars" of the European Union created by Maastricht. The other, (and new) pillars of intergovernmental co-operation, were the pillar of a "Common Foreign and Security Policy" and the pillar of "Justice and Home Affairs" (JHA). The Justice and Home Affairs pillar was renamed the "Police and Judicial Co-Operation in Criminal Matters" by the Treaty of Amsterdam in June 1997.

1994

• January - European Economic Area (EEA) comes into force, without Swiss participation. Switzerland had rejected EEA membership in a referendum in December 1992.
• March - Inaugural session of the Committee of the Regions (CoR). Body established by the Treaty on European Union (TEU) (Maastricht Treaty) intended to give elected local and regional authorities, other than those of the European Parliament, a say in European Union decisions, even if only in an advisory capacity. In January 2015, it was limited by the Lisbon Treaty to 350 members, and reduced again to 329, following Brexit.
• March - Hungary applies to join the EU.
• April - Poland applies to join the EU.
• May - Opening of the Channel Tunnel linking the UK and France.
• June - Fourth direct elections to the European Parliament.
• June - Referendum in Austria favors EU membership.
• October - Finnish referendum accepts EU membership.
• November - Swedish referendum accepts EU membership.
• November - Norwegian referendum rejects EU membership a second time.
• December - Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) name adopted at the Budapest summit. It had originally been known as the Conference on Security and Cooperation and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) organized at the Helsinki conference in Helsinki, Finland in 1973. The First conference had produced the Helsinki Final Act in 1975, an agreement in three main areas: economic co-operation, human rights, and exchange of information about military activities.

1995

• January - Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the EU, bringing membership to fifteen.
• January 1- World Trade Organization established as a replacement for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
• March - Schengen Agreement, originally signed on June 14, 1985 comes into force. The original Schengen Agreement had been signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, on June 14, 1985 and was followed by the Schengen Convention, signed in June 1990 by the five founder members of the European Commuunity - Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The intent was to create a border-free Schengen Area allowing for the free movement of people. When the Agreement was implemennted in March 1995, it included the five original signatories, plus Portugal and Spain.
• June - Romania and Slovakia apply to join the European Union.
• June - Europol Convention signed at the European Council in Florence, Italy. Europol (now officially known as the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Co-operation), formerly the European Police Office, was intended to increase police cooperation between member states of the European Union, particularly in combatting drug trafficking, fraud, and terrorism by collecting and diseeminating intelligence. It is more of an intelligence organization, rather than a police force. (Europol should not be confused with Interpol, the international police organization founded in 1923, and headquartered in Lyon, France.) Europol is part of justice and home affairs, is based in the Hague, the Netherlands, with a staff of around 800. Europol became fully operational on July 1, 1999.
• October - December - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania apply to join the European Union.
• October 24 - European Parliament and Council adopt Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC), intended to establish rules for the collection, processing, transmission, and protection of information about individuals. Established the concept of a Data Protection Authority (DPA), a member state body with responsibility for monitoring and enforcing protection of individual data. The 1995 Data Protection Directive was replaced by the General Data Protection Directive (GDPR) in May of 2018 (May 25, 2018).
• December - Dayton peace accords end war in Yugoslavia.
• December - European Currency Unit (ECU) is renamed the "euro." A European Council meeting in Dublin, Ireland, decides that the European Currency Unit (ECU), introduced in 1979, as part of the European Monetary System (EMS), would be replaced by the euro on January 1, 1999 on a one-for-one basis.

1996

• January - Czech Republic applies to join the European Union.
• March 22 - "Mad Cow" crisis - Fears of mad cow disease spreading to humans from infected beef after testing reveals a number of infected herds. Leads to a ban on British exports of bovine meat.
• June - Slovenia applies to join the European Union.
• December 13-14 - Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) adopted by the European Council meeting in Amsterdam. The pact established detailed arrangements for monitoring the budgetary status of member states, the co-ordination of economic policies, and procedures for dealing with excessive deficits and public debt.

Treaty of Amsterdam

1997

• June - European Council agrees on the Treaty of Amsterdam. The fifteen heads of state and government reach agreement on measures combating high unemployment, extending citizens' rights, and improving democratic accountability and participation in the institutiions of the European Union.
• July - Launch of Agenda 2000, a program containing a list of all the measures that the European Commission felt needed to be agreed to in order to bring ten European states into the EU.
• October - Treaty of Amsterdam signed. Following ratification by the member states, would come into force on May 1, 1999.

1998

• March - Negotiations on EU membership opened with Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and Sovenia.
• June - Establishment of European Central Bank (ECB) The European Central Bank, mentioned in the Treaty of European Union (TEU) (Maastricht Treaty), and based on aa 1993 agreement which decided that it would be located in Franfurt am Main, Germany.

1999

• January 1 - Euro becomes the official currency of the European Union, replacing the European Currency Unit (ECU), as a result of the December 1995 European Council decision. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), a separate organization of the Central Banks of the member states, began overseeing euro implementation. The euro launch involved eleven member states and determined a fixed currency exchange rate relative to one another and to the euro. The euro became available as an electronic currency.
• March - Resignation of College of Commissioners en masse, following publication of a report alleging fraud, mismanagement, incompetence, and nepotism amonng the Commissioners.
• March - April - NATO air attacks on Kosovo.
• May 1 - Treaty of Amsterdam comes into force. The Amsterdam Treaty gave more emphasis to measures combating high unemployment, extending citizens' rights, and improving democratic accountability and participation in the institutiions of the European Union.
• June - Fifth direct elections to the European Parliament.

2000

• January - Negotiations on EU membership open with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, and Slovakia.
• March - Launch of Lisbon Ageenda (Lisbon Strategy). Agreement coming out of a special European Council meeting in Lisbon, Portugal to set a 10-year strategic goal for the European Union intending to make the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based econonomy in the world, with expectations of sustained economic growth and job creation, which would be measured by meeting a series of targets. By 2005, it became clear that, rather than improving, economic growth had deteriorated in some countries, partly due to increased competition from Asian economies.
• June - Cotonou Agreement signed between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states in Cotonou, Benin. Replaced the Lomé Conventions of 1975, 1979, 1985, and 1989. The goal was to provide economic assistance, better trade relations, and greater co-operation.
• September - Danish referendum rejects adoption of euro.
• December 10 - European Council at an intergovernmental conference in Nice, France agrees on the Treaty of Nice.

Treaty of Nice

2001

• February 26 - Treaty of Nice signed. In anticipation of the entry of smaller states from the former Eastern Bloc (Enlargement) the Nice Treaty made changes to the voting weight of member countries so that the larger population states, such as Germany, would maintain their representation.
• March - Swiss referendum rejects EU membership.
• June - Irish referendum rejects Treaty of Nice.
• September 11 - Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
• December 15 - Laeken Declaration on the Future of the European Union - European Council summit meeting held in Laeken, Belgium adopts declaration to discuss issues to be considered by the European Convention to be held in February 2002. Two key issues were the need to bring the EU closer to its citizens and defining a role for the EU in a fast-changing globalized world. Issues a declaration on mmovng forward with a draft Constitution

Constitutional Treaty

2002

• January - March - Euro coins and notes begin circulating, and replacing national currencies, in twelve member states. The UK, Denmark, and Sweden, of the fifteen member states, did not replace their national currencies with the euro
• February 28 - European Convention (formally the Convention on the Future of Europe) convenes under the leadership of former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estang. Attended by 297 participants, the Convention debates the issues raised by thee Laeken Declaration and formulates an agenda for the October 2003 intergovernmental conference. Creates a draft treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.
• July 23 - Treaty of Paris, signed on April 18, 1951, creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) expires and the European Coal and Steel Community is officially disbanded. Established by the 1951 Treaty of Paris, in existence from July 23, 1952, after 1967, when its independent institutions were lost, it largely had only a semi-independent existence, with activities confined to regional issues of the coal and steel industries.
• October - Second Irish referendum approves Treaty of Nice.
• December - Copenhagen Summit formally approves the accession of the first 10 candidate countries to the EU. Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will be accepted with the signing of the Treaty of Accession on April 16, 2003.

2003

• February 1 - Treaty of Nice, intended to prepare the European Union (EU) for enlargement, comes into force. Introduces a series of institutional reforms.
• March - United States launches attack on Iraq despite French and German opposition.
• March - September - Referendums in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia approve EU membership. A referendum in Cyprus on an agreement to reunify the island, to be held in April 2004, is only approved by the southern half, with Greek Cypriots rejecting reunification.
• April 16 - Treaty of Accession, signed in Athens, Greece, admitting the 10 applicant states approved at the December 2002 Copenhagen Summit.
• July - Publication of draft constitutional treaty. The result of the February 2002 Convention on the Future of Europe was the publication of a finalized "Draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe." The Constitutional Treaty would be adopted by EU leaders in June 2004, but would be abandoned in 2005, after referendums in France and the Netherlands rejected the Treaty. Unanimous support of all member states was required to ratify a treaty.
• September - Swedish referendum rejects adoption of the euro.
• October - Intergovernmental conference opens on the draft European Constitutional Treaty.
• December - Intergovernmental conference fails to reach agreement on the Constitutional Treaty.

2004

• March - Terrorist bombings in Madrid, Spain.
• April - Greek Cypriots (northern half of island), in a referendum, reject agreement to reunify Cyprus. Southern half of the island accepts agreement.
• May - Ten countries, mainly Eastern European - Cyprus (southern half of island), the Czech Republic (Czechia), Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovakia - join the EU, bringing membership to twenty-five.
• June - Sixth direct elections to European Parliament.
• June 18 - Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe - European Council reaches agreement on, and adopts the Constitutional Treaty.
• July - European Defence Agency (EDA) established to support member states' efforts to improve European defence capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain and improve the Common Seurity and Defence Policy.
• October 29 - Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe is signed in Rome.
• November - Lithuania becomes the first EU member state to ratify the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe.

2005

• February - Spain becomes first EU member state to hold a referendum on the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe. Decisive majority approves the text, although turnout is low.
• May - France holds a referendum on the Constitutional Treaty and rejects the treaty by 55% to 45%.
• June 1 - Netherlands holds a referendum on the Constitutional Treaty, three days after the French rejection, the Dutch also rejects the Treaty, with 62% voting against.
• June 16-17 - European Council, meeting in Brussels launches 'reflection period.' Council decides to allow a time for debate among the member states over how to proceed with the next step - whether to continue with attempts to create a Constitutional Treaty or essentially, to abandon it.
• July - Terrorist bombings in London.
• October - Negotiations on EU membership open with Croatia and Turkey.

2006

• June 15-16 - European Council decides to extend the 'period of reflection' for the Constitutional Treaty..

Treaty of Lisbon

2007

• January 1 - Bulgaria and Romania join the EU, bringing membership to twenty-seven.
• January 1 - Slovenia joins the eurozone and adopts the euro as its currency, becoming the thirteenth country to adopt the currency.
• March 25 - Berlin Declaration adopted at an informal gathering of the European Council, held on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome. It provided a formal statement on the achievements and purposes of the European Union.
• June 21-23 - European Council adopts an intergovernmental conference mandate, or a detailed set of instructions, which the intergovernmental conference set for the next month, July, is to take up. The July conference is to work out the details of a 'Reform Treaty' to replace the now-abandoned Constitutional Treaty. The main focus would be on an amending treaty, incorporating the reforms of the Constitutional Treaty into the existing Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (TEC), the original treaties of the Treaty of Rome. The TEC would also be renamed the "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union" (TFEU).
• July 23 - Intergovernmental conferencee (IGC) to produce what would be known as the "Treaty of Lisbon" opens in Brussels. A draft Reform Treaty has been produced by the Council Legal Service for the Portuguese Council Presidency.
• August - Global financial crisis begins.
• October 2 - IGC produces revised draft Reform Treaty.
• October 18-19 - Informal European Council meeting held in Lisbon, Portugal reaches agreement on the final text of the Treaty of Lisbon.
• December 13 - Treaty of Lisbon - The new treaty is signed by the members meeting in Lisbon.

2008

• January - Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro.
• June 12 - Irish referendum rejects the Lisbon Treaty.

2009

• January - Slovakia adopts the euro.
• February - Spain enters into economic recession.
• June 18-19 - European Council adopts 'Irish guarantees,' formal declarations that would address human rights and other concerns of Irish citizens.
• October 2 - New Irish referendum approves ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon
• December 1 - Treaty of Lisbon enters into force. The treaty amends the 1992 Treaty on European Union (TEU) (Maastricht Treaty), which had been a revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Although the 1992 Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) is considered the date when the European Union was formed, the Maastricht Treaty had used both the terms European Union and European Community. The Treaty of Lisbon retroactively replaced the term 'Community' with the term 'Union' so that, after Lisbon, the references in the treaties were to the 'European Union' rather then to the 'European Community.' The Treaty of Lisbon also renamed the 'Treaty Establishing the European Community' (EEC). It became the 'Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union' (TFEU). The European Economic Community (EEC) was the original title of the organization established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome treaties. The European Economic Community had originally been the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), formed by the Six founder members in the 1951 Treaty of Paris.

2010

• April - Sovereign Debt Crisis - Greek government bonds are downgraded to junk status, prompting fears of the collapse of the Greek economy, leading to a three-year financial rescue package backed by the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetaray Fund (IMF) for Greece.

Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism

2011

• January - European Banking Authority (EBA) established as part of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS), intended to supervise the EU's financial sector.
• January - Estonia adopts the euro.
• July 11 - Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism (TESM) signed by the 17 members of the eurozone as part of their efforts to resolve the financial crisis in the eurozone.
• October - Second Greek bailout package.
• Spain's economic situation deteriorates throughout 2011, with falling growth rates, the collapse of the housing market, and an increase in unemployment, leading to a downgrading of its credit rating by international ratings agencies.

Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union

2012

• January 1 - European Commission publishes the General Data Protection Directive (GDPR), a proposal to update the 1995 Data Protection Directive to allow all European Union citizens a right to have his or her personal online data removed from the Web.
• March 2 - Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (Fiscal Compact) signed by all of the European Union (EU) member states, except the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The compact is intended to increase fiscal discipline by requiring balanced budgets of member states.
• June - European Council agrees to bank recapitalization through the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), and provides bailout loans to Ireland, Portugal, and Greece.
• June - European Council discusses plans for an EU-wide banking union.
• September - European Commission proposes the single supervisory mechanism (SSM), as part of a set of financial reforms to be administered by the European Central Bank.
• September 27 - Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism comes into force.
• October - European Council agrees to set a timetable for setting up a new eurozone bank regulator which will be part of the proposed Banking Union.

2013

• February - EU leaders agree on a budget packagee for 2014-2020.
• June 25 - Austrian lawyer Maximillian Schrems files a complaint against the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) for its failure to investigate allegations that Facebook Ireland Ltd was illegally transferring data to its parent company Facebook Inc., in violation of the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive (DPD). Facebook was relying on a "Safe Harbour" agreement between the United States and the European Union, approved by the EU Commission, which allowed such transfers. Edward Snowden's disclosures suggested that, in spite of the Safe Harbour agreement, US state security agencies, such as the National Security Agency (NSA), had access to personal data, violating EU data protection rights. The Irish High Court referred the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
• July 1 - Croatia becomes the EU's twnty-eighth member state.
• November - Georgia and Moldova sign association agreements with the EU.

2014

• January - Latvia adopts the euro and is admitted to the eurozone.
• May - Elections are held for the European Parliament.
• May - Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) discusses "right to be forgotten" in the decision Google Spain SL v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos.
• November - Single supervisory mechanism for banks enters into force. Applies primarily to banks in the eurozone.

2015

• January - Lithuania adopts the euro, becoming the 19th member of the eurozone.
• May - The Conservative Party under David Cameron wins an absolute majority in UK parliamentary elections and promises an "in-out" referendum on EU membership before the end of 2017.
• July 5 - Greek voters reject a bailout proposal from the EU in a referendum. Two weeks later the Greek parliament approves a new harsher bailout offer from the EU.
• September - The Council of the EU votes to relocate and redistribute 120,000 refugees across all member states.
• October 6 - Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) declares the Safe Harbour agreement between the U.S. and the EU invalid. (Schrems I)
• November 6 - European Union Commission (EC) issues guidance for companies regarding options for data transfers to the US, following the Schrems ruling.

2016

• February 2 - EU and US announce agreement on a revision of the invalidated Safe Harbour.
• April - European Parliament approves and adopts the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), intended to increase data protection and privacy protection for individuals within the European Union. The GDPR updated and replaced the Data Protection Directive of 1995 (Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC).
• June 23 - Brexit referendum vote in the UK. British electorate votes, by 51.9% to 48.1%, to leave the EU.
• June 24 - David Cameron announces his intention to resign as Prime Minister.
• July - Theresa May becomes UK prime minister and begins negotiations with the EU on the terms of the UK leaving the EU.
• July 8 - EU member states adopt the Privacy Shield agreement.
• July 12 - Privacy Shield formally implemented and enters into force.
• November - High Court in the UK rules that government cannot invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, in order to leave the European Union, without being authorized by Parliament. Article 50 allows any member state of the European Union to withdraw from the European Union, so long as they comply with their constitutional requirements, and give the EU formal notice of their intention to withdraw.

2017

• March 25 - Sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
• March - British government gives European Union formal notice that it is invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon to begin withdrawal process from the Union.
• April - EU leaders meet to discuss Brexit.
• September - EU initiates ten initial projects for Permanent Structured Co-operaation (PESCO), a framework devised to enhance the defence and security of European Union (EU) member states by pooling resources for defence equipment, research, funding, and other initiatives of the European Defence Agency (EDA), established in July 2004. 25 EU member states agreed to participate.
• November - European Council votes to relocate the European Banking Authority (EBA) from London to Paris and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) from London to Amsterdam, as a result of Brexit.

2018

• March - European Council formally adopts 17 initial projects to be undertaken by Permanent Structured Co-operation (PESCO), relating to training, capability development, and operational readiness.
• May 25 - General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), adopted in April 2016, comes into force, replacing the Data Protection Directive of 1995.
• October - Court of Justice rules that Polish legislation relating to reforms of the Supreme Court of Poland is in contravention of EU law.
• November - EU member states approve Theresa May's plan for Brexit.

2019

• April - UK Parliament refuses to approve Theresa May's plan for Brexit, resulting in a postponement of the date of Brexit.
• May - Elections held for European Parliament.
• July - Theresa May resigns as prime minister, after UK Parliament refuses to approve a Brexit plan.
• November - European Parliament approves the 2019-2014 Commission.
• December - Conservative Party wins a decisive majority in UK elections, after Boris Johnson vows to take the UK out of the EU.

2020

• January 24 - Agreement signed by leaders of the Europeaan Union and the UK, finalizing UK leaving the EU (Brexit).
• January 31 - At midnight on January 31, the UK officially leaves the European Union, effectively out of the Union on February 1.
• July 16 - Schrems II decision issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The decision invalidates the European Commission's adequacy determination for the Privacy Shield agreement between the EU and the U.S. The Commission had determined that the Privacy Shield agreement had enough safeguards to address privacy concerns related to the use of EU citizen's data. The CJEU decided that it lacked sufficient oversight measures to protect privacy, and also, had no method of redress, such as an appeal process, in the event of violations.

2023

• January 16 - Digital Operational Resiliance Act (DORA) enters into force. DORA is intended to strengthen the IT security of financial entities, such as banks, insurance companies, and investment firms, and provide guidance on measures to be taken to minimize disruption and maintain operation or recover from incidents causing disruption of operations.
• July 10 - European Commission adopts its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, concluding that the United States ensures an adequate level of protectiion for personal data transferred from the EU to US companies participatinng in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
• July 17 - European Commission issues adequacy decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF).
• July 17 - Data Privacy Framework (DPF) program, allowing US-based organizations to self-certify their compliance with the requirements of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF) agreement takes effect. The program is administered by the International Trade Administration (ITA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
• December - European Parliament and the Council of the EU reach political agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) intended to provide a legal framework, rules, and guidance for the development and use of artificial intelligence.

2024

• February - European Artificial Intelligence (AI) Office established within the European Commission. The agency is to oversee the AI Act's enforcement and implementation by the member states.

2025

• January 17 - Digital Operational Resiliance Act (DORA), intended to strengthen financial entity IT security applies.