The European Union -
Treaties

Treaty of Brussels

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.

Treaty of London (Westminster)

1949

• 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.)

Treaty of Paris

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)

1951

• April 18 - Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) signed. Formed by the six European states - Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Would come into force on July 23, 1952. The ECSC would be officially disbanded on July 23, 2002.

1952

• July 23 - Treaty of Paris (European Coal and Steel Community Treaty) comes into effect.

The Treaties of Rome

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.

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.

Benelux Economic Union Treaty

1958

• February - Benelux Economic Union Treaty signed in The Hague. The Benelux Economic Union consisted of the countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Set to expire in 2010.

1960

• Benelux Economic Union comes into force.

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.

1967

• July 1 - Merger Treaty integrating the three European Communities comes into force.

Single European Act

1985

• 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). One of the main accomplishments of the SEA was to estabish a goal or commitment, although not quite a formal timetable, of making concrete progress toward European unity. It focused on three main areas: the internal market, European political co-operation (EPC) (cooperation in the foreign policy arena), and institutional reform. The internal market, with the growing number of member countries, required a major commitment, since it involved different national systems of taxation and law, differing national standards and regulations, and national social security and welfare systems. The SEA also gave formal status to the involvement of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union in decisions and development.(Dictionary, p. 422)

1986

• February 17 - Nine member states sign the Single European Act (SEA).
• February 28 - Denmark, Italy, and Greece sign the Single European Act (SEA).
• Single European Act (SEA) ratified by the Member States' parliaments.

1987

• July 1 - Single European Act (SEA) comes into force.

Maastricht Treaty

1991

• 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 countries of Eastern Europe make the transition to free-market economies, opens in London.
• 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)

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). Also in 2009, 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 - 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.
• 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.

Treaty of Amsterdam

1997

• June - Fifteen heads of state and government agree to Treaty of Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Treaty was an attempt to deal with changing circumstances in Central and Eastern Europe and the expected problems related to EU enlargement. It included measures allowing greater citizen participation in EU institutions along with greater openness about EU decisions. Priority was given to measures combating high unemployment, extending citizens' rights, and improving democratic accountability and participation in the institutions of the EU. Member states were required to protect citizens against misuse of data stored in EU institutions. It also "encouraged" new and continued efforts in the fields of public health, the environment and sustainable developement, as well as consumer protection. (Dictionary, p. 461)
• October - Treaty of Amsterdam signed.

1999

• May 1 - Treaty of Amsterdam comes into force following ratification.

Treaty of Nice

2000

• December - Treaty of Nice agreed. The Treaty of Nice was intended to prepare the European Union for enlargement. Fears that enlargement would result in a loss of power by the current EU member states led to structural reform or institutional changes. The size of the European Commission was to be reduced to a maximum of one national from each member state. Votes within the Council of the European Union were re-weighted to the advantage of the larger member states. Seats within the European Parliament were re-allocated. The number of Parliamentary seats was increased from 700 to 732. After Brexit, it would be reduced to 705. (Dictionary, 465, 225)

2001

• February 26 - Treaty of Nice signed.

2002

• July 23 - The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established by the Treaty of Paris in April 1951, is disbanded.

2003

• February 1 - Treaty of Nice comes into effect.
• October - Intergovernmental conference launches effort to create a Constitutional Treaty.

Constitutional Treaty

2004

• June - Agreement reached on a draft Constitutional Treaty, formally the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, intended to replace the Treaty of Rome and the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht).

2005

• May - France rejects Constitutional Treaty in a referendum vote.
• June - Netherlands rejects Constitutional Treaty in a referendum vote.
• Following the referendum rejections, further attempts to adopt the Constitutional Treaty are put on hold, in effect, abandoned. While the treaty would be abandoned, the ideas would be incorporated in future negotiations.

Treaty of Lisbon

2007

• October - Agreement reached on Treaty of Lisbon, to replace the abandoned constitutional treaty.
• December - Treaty of Lisbon signed at the European Council meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.
• The Treaty of Lisbon amended the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the 1991 Maastricht Treaty, and retroactively removed all references to the European Community in the Maastricht Treaty and replaced them with the term European Union. It also renumbered the TEU's provisions. The Lisbon Treaty abolished the three-pillar structure, or at least modified it to create a more integrated structure. It also reduced the size of the European Commission, changed voting procedures, created the post of President of the European Council, and established a European Public Prosecutor's Office.
• The Treaty of Lisbon also renamed the Treaty Establishing the European Community - the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The new name was the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Like the TEU, all references to the European Community were replaced by the term European Union and like the TEU, it also renumbered the various provisions. The TFEU, in contrast to the Treaty on European Union (TEU), might be considered more of a "bill of rights," since it talks about citizenship and non-discrimination. The TEU deals more with the structure and institutions of the EU government, such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Court of Justice. The TFEU focuses more on policies and goals on a variety of issues, such as the internal market, the free movement of goods, agricultural policy, employment, social policy, education, environment, and tourism.

2008

• June - Ireland, in a referendum vote, rejects the Lisbon Treaty. Ireland would be the only country to hold a referendum on the treaty.

Treaty revising the Treaty Establishing the Benelux Economic Union

2008

• June 17 - Treaty revising the Treaty establishing the Benelux Economic Union Treaty signed. The Benelux Economic Union consisted of the countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The 1958 Benelux Treaty was set to expire in 2010. The revised Treaty did not set an expiration date. The revised treaty also changed the name to the "Benelux Union."

Treaty of Lisbon

2009

• October - Ireland holds second referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, which passes.
• December 1 - Treaty of Lisbon enters into force.

Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union

2012

• March 2 - Fiscal Compact, formally the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union signed by all the EU member states except the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The Fiscal Compact was an extension of the 1997 Stablity and Growth Pact, although more stringent. The Compact is designed to ensure improved financial discipline within the EU and especially within the eurozone. States that ratified the Compact were required to maintain balanced budgets or at least not to go into debt, beyond set limits. The Compact went into effect on January 1, 2013, for ratifying states. In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the EU member states agreed to temporarily suspend the Stability and Growth Pact.