A Brief History of the European Union

Roman Empire
For the first time in history, a large part of Europe is united, under the Roman Empire

1812
At the height of his power, Napoleon coerced most of Europe into a union of allies and conquered states. Resentment brought his downfall in 1815.

1946
Winston Churchill calls for a "kind of United States of Europe" in a speech given at the Zurich University.
The European Federalists Union is established in Paris.

1948
The International Co-ordination of Movements for the Unification of Europe Committee meets in The Hague. It is chaired by Winston Churchill and attended by 800 delegates. The meeting recommends the creation of a European Deliberative Assembly and a European Special Council, in charge of preparing political and economic integration of European countries. It also proposes the adoption of a Human Rights Charter and a Court of Justice.

1951
A meeting to consider the creation of a European Community of Defence is held in Paris. Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Germany attend the meeting alongside six observer countries - the United States, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

1955
The Council of Europe adopts as it emblem the blue flag with 12 golden stars on it.

1957
The treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) are signed by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands in Rome - from then on referred to as the "Treaty of Rome".
The treaty became the foundation stone of the modern-day European Community.

1962
The Council of Europe adopts the first directive. It establishes the EEC global foodstuff regulation by defining which colourants can be added to food.

1966
The EEC enters the third and last phase of the transition to the Common Market. This included the replacement of the unanimity vote by the majority system for most of the decisions of the Council of Europe.

1967
The United Kingdom re-applies to join the Community, followed by Ireland, and Denmark. General de Gaulle is still reluctant to accept British accession.

1970
Association Agreement signed with Malta

1972
Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom sign the treaties of accession to the European Communities.

1975
At a meeting of the European Council in Rome, ministers decide to establish a European Parliament elected by universal suffrage.

1986
The Single European Act, modifying the Treaty of Rome and extending majority voting, is signed.

1991
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is inaugurated in London.
A European Council Summit is held in Maastricht. It reaches an agreement on the draft treaty on the European monetary union. The term "European Union" begins to be used.

1995
Austria, Sweden and Finland join the European Union. Norwegians vote 'no' in a referendum.

1997
The European Council meets in Amsterdam and reaches a consensus on a draft treaty for a new phase of economic and monetary union and adopts a resolution on growth and employment.

1999
The single currency, the euro, was launched on 1 January. Eleven member states adopted the new currency but three countries - Denmark, Sweden, and the UK - decided to defer a decision.
The European Commission headed by Jacques Santer resigns following allegations of corruption and mismanagement of funds.

2000
The Nice Treaty at the Nice Summit in December provided the necessary changes in the procedures and structures of the EU to cater for a Union of 25 member states after the next enlargement.

2002
As of the 1st of March the euro becomes the only legal tender currency in the 12 euro-zone member states.

In October the European Commission recommends 10 countries as future EU member states as from 2004: Malta, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey could be in the following enlargement.

In December, the EU summit in Copenhagen saw the definite closure of negotiations for the entry of the 10 candidate countries, which from now on were referred-to as "acceding countries".

2003
On the 8th March, Malta held its referendum on EU membership, the first among acceding states. Other countries held their referenda later, and with varying degrees of success, there was a pro-membership vote wherever the referenda where held

On 16th April 2003 in Athens, Greece, the 10 acceding countries and the 15 Member States signed the Accession Treaty, which formalised their accession to the Union.

In the meantime, the European Convention continued on its work on the draft EU Constitution whose final draft was presented to the Italian Presidency of the EU on the 18th July 2003 in Rome by the Convention President Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

This draft will be the subject of an Inter-Governmental Conference between EU Members States and acceding countries later in 2003.

Source: MaltaMedia News Service, BBC News Online, Europa Server