About the European Union

Headquarters: City of Brussels, Belgium

Founded: November 1, 1993, Maastricht, Netherlands
Largest city: London
Founders: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands, Germany

Membership is open to any country with a democratic government, a good human rights
record, and sound economic policies.
The member states delegate sovereignty to the EU institutions to represent the interests of
the European Union as a whole.

The capital of the European Union is Brussels, Belgium.

The EU is run by five main bodies: European Parliament, Council of the Union,
European Commission, Court of Justice, and the Court of Auditors.

The United States is the EU's main trading partner.

The Treaty of Lisbon amends the Treaty on European Union to explicitly
recognize for the first time the member states' right to withdraw from the union.
(Article 50, amended TEU)
Timeline:
1957 - The European Economic Community (EEC) is created. The member countries
are Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The
group aims to remove trade barriers and form a common market.
1973 - Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom become member countries.
1981 - Greece becomes a member.
1985 - Spain and Portugal become members.
June 14, 1985 - Five of the 10 member states sign the Schengen Agreement, which
eventually opens borders of agreeing member states, doing away with border controls.
As of 2016, 26 countries belong to the Schengen Area.
February 7, 1992 - The Treaty on the European Union is signed in Maastricht
(Netherlands) by leaders of the member states.
November 1, 1993 - The Maastricht Treaty enters into force.

1993 - The EC members at the time (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain,
UK, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, and Portugal) extend their
cooperation into the areas of justice and home affairs and a common foreign and
security policy.
January 1, 1995 - Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the EU.
April 30, 2004 - A ceremony is held in Dublin, Ireland, marking the expansion of the EU
from 15 to 25 members. The new members are Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovenia.
June 2004 - The member countries approve the text of the EU Constitution. It is signed
by all the members in October 2004.
May 29, 2005 - The people of France (and its territories) vote against the European
Union constitution in a referendum. (No = 54.87%/Yes = 45.13%)
June 1, 2005 - The Netherlands votes against the constitution in a referendum. All 27
members of the EU must pass the constitution for it to take effect. Either a national
parliament can approve it or in some countries, the citizens vote on a referendum.
June 23, 2007 - European Union leaders in Brussels agree on an outline of a treaty that
would replace the EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago.
June 19, 2008 - The European Union decides to lift diplomatic sanctions imposed
on Cuba.
November 19, 2009 - Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian Prime Minister, becomes
the first president of the European Council under the Treaty of Lisbon. Catherine
Ashton of the UK will be the first foreign minister.
December 1, 2009 - The Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, having been ratified by all
European Union member states. It amends the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and the Rome
Treaty of 1957.
October 12, 2012 - Is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for contributing to the
advancement of peace, democracy and human rights in Europe.
June 25, 2013 - The European Union agrees to a new round of membership
negotiations with Turkey.
July 1, 2013 - Croatia joins the EU as its 28th member.

April 1, 2014 - The European Union launches military operations to restore stability to
the Central African Republic.
March 2015 - Iceland withdraws its request to be considered as a candidate for
membership.
March 18, 2016 - The EU and Turkey reach an agreement on how to deal with a flood of
Syrian refugees. The agreement stipulates that all migrants entering Greece from
Turkey will be returned to Turkey. For every Syrian returned to Turkey from Greece,
another Syrian will be resettled to the EU.
June 23, 2016 - The UK votes to leave the European Union. It will take at least two
years to sort out the exit.
Presidencies of the Council of the European Union until 2020:
Netherlands: January-June 2016
Slovakia: July-December 2016
Malta: January-June 2017
United Kingdom: July-December 2017
Estonia: January-June 2018
Bulgaria: July-December 2018
Austria: January-June 2019
Romania: July-December 2019
Finland: January-June 2020
Current Members:
(Founding members in bold)
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania ,
Luxembourg, Malta , Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden
United Kingdom - voted to leave June 24, 2016.
Candidate Countries:
Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey
Applicant Countries:
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo

The United Kingdom EC referendum of 1975, also known as the Common Market
referendum and EEC membership referendum was a referendum held on 5 June 1975 in
the United Kingdom.
The EEC heads of government agreed to a deal in Dublin on 11 March 1975
In the late 1950s Harold Macmillan (PM of UK)
Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Britain joined the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973, along with Denmark and
Ireland. This later became the European Union.
The EEC at the time of the referendum was made up of nine countries

Most Notable Treaties in Regard to EU:

Treaty of Paris (1951). The treaty that was signed on 18 April 1951
between Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Italy and
West Germany established the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC). It is traditionally regarded as the foundation of the EU because
it led to political and economic stability in western Europe as well as
provided the basis for the modern EU.

Treaty of Rome (1957). The treaty that was signed by the founders
of the ECSC on 25 March 1957 led to the creation of the European
Economic Community (EEC) that was formally founded on 1 January
1958. The aim of the EEC was to increase economic integration
between the signatory states.

Merger Treaty (1965). The treaty was signed between the founding
states of the ESCS and EEC on 8 April 1965 and resulted in the creation
of first joint institutions. The Merger Treaty resulted in the creation of a
single set of institutions for the ESCS, EEC and the European Atomic
Energy Community. The later was founded with a separate treaty that
was singed in Rome on the same day as the Treaty of Rome (1957).

Schengen Agreement (1985). The treaty that was signed on 14 June

1985 resulted in abolition of the border checks between the members
of the EU. The so-called Schengen Area, however, was created only in
1995. Two states remained outside the Schengen Area the UK and

Ireland. Outside the Schengen Area also remain Romania, Bulgaria and
Cyprus. On the other hand, Schengen Area includes Norway, Iceland
and Switzerland which are not members of the EU.

Single European Act (1986). The treaty that was signed between 12
members of the EEC revised the Treaty of Rome and provided the basis
for foundation of a single market. It also formalised the European
Political Cooperation, the precursor of the EUs Common Foreign and
Security Policy.

Maastricht Treaty (1992). The treaty which is named after the place
it was signed Maastricht, the Netherlands was signed between 12
members of the EEC on 7 February 1992. It is one of the most
important EU treaties not only because it formally created the EU but
also because it laid the foundation for formation of the eurozone.

Amsterdam Treaty (1997). Signed on 2 October 1997 by the

members of the EU, the Treaty of Amsterdam defined EU citizenship
and individuals rights in terms of justice, freedom and security. It also
dealt with the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the reform of
the EU institutions in future enlargements but the work on the reform
of the EU institutions is still ongoing.

Treaty of Lisbon (2007). The treaty was signed by all EU member

states on 13 December 2007 with an aim to complete the reform
process, started by the Amsterdam Treaty. It entered into force on 1
December 2009.

Founding Fathers of EU:

Robert Schuman (1886-1963). The German-French statesman is

often referred to as the Father of Europe for his contribution to
formation of the precursor of the modern EU. In the so-called Schuman
Declaration, he called for formation of a supranational community and
reorganisation of post-war Europe through treaties. But he also
initiated the post-war French-German cooperation that resulted in the
creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ESCS) which was

besides France and West Germany also joined by Italy and the states of
Benelux. The date of the drafting of the Schuman Declaration, 9 May
(1950) was designated as the Europe Day.

Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967). The first post-war (West) German

Chancellor worked hard in reintegrating Germany into Western Europe
and heavily promoted the idea of European cooperation. He supported
Schuman Declaration but he also sought other ways to advance the
European cause. Adenauer played the key role in the formation of the
European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom) as well as German reconciliation with France.
The Elysee Treaty that was signed by Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle
in 1963 ended the rivalry between the two nations and paved the way
to French-German friendship without which the EU wouldnt be
possible.

Paul-Henry Spaak (1899-1972). Belgian statesman who served as

Prime Minister on three occasions was among the strongest supporters
of European cooperation after the end of the Second World War. He led
the so-called Spaak Committee that was set up by the founding states
of the ESCS to prepare a report on a common market and European
Community. The Committees report, known as the Spaak Report was
accepted and used as a basis by the Intergovernmental Conference on
the Common Market and Euratom in 1956 which in turn led to creation
of the EEC and Euratom.

Jean Monnet (1888-1979). French diplomat and political economist

never hold a public office but he was one of the main architects of the
European Union. He helped prepare the Schuman Declaration which
foresaw integration of the German and French coal and steel industries
under common control and was accepted by Germany in 1951. Monnet
also advocated gradual approach to the European integration.

Alcide De Gasperi (1881-1954). The Italian politician and statesman

who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1945 to 1953 closely
cooperated with both Adenauer and Schuman and supported the

latters plan that led to the foundation of the ESCS. De Gasperi also
supported the idea of a common European defence policy which,
however, didnt succeed.

Johan Willem Beyen (1897-1976). The Dutch politician and

diplomat thought the idea of European political integration cannot
succeed in the near future. He proposed economic cooperation and
created a plan of economic cooperation and common market. Beyens
plan was discussed and largely accepted by the founders of the ESCS
at the Messina Conference (1955) which in turn led to the Treaty of
Rome that created the ESS and Euratom.

Joseph Bech (1887-1975). Together with other Benelux politicians,

the Luxembourgian politician played an important role in convocation
of the Messina Conference. The latter was convened on the initiative of
a memorandum Bech drafted with other Benelux politicians.