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Treaty of Rome
Established the European Economic Community (EEC), creating a common market and customs union among its members -
European Parliament
The first meeting of the European Parliamentary Assembly, a forerunner of today's European Parliament, is held in Strasbourg, France, with Robert Schuman elected President. -
European Free Trade Association
The European Free Trade Association is set up by a number of European countries that are not part of the European Economic Community (Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) to reduce barriers and increase trade of goods and services with each other. -
Common Agricultural Policy
In 1962, the EU launched the Common Agricultural Policy for supporting farmers and ensuring that Europe's food is safe to eat. -
New European Commission headquarters
The New European Commission headquarters is the executive branch of the European Union. Is located in Brussels -
Free cross-border trade
Free cross-border trade enables the unrestricted flow of goods and services between nations. -
Single market for goods
A single market for goods is an economic system where member states trade goods freely without barriers like traffs or quotas. -
First EU enlargement
Gibraltar and Greenland also joined the EC as part of the United Kingdom and Denmark respectively, but the Danish Faroe Islands, the other British Overseas Territories and the Crown dependencies of the United Kingdom did not join the EC. -
Creation of European Council
Following the Copenhagen summit in December 1973, which made provision for summits to be held whenever necessary, the Paris summit of December 1974, hosted by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, creates the European Council. -
First European Elections
For the first time, European citizens can vote for who they want to represent them in the European Parliament. -
Greece joins the European Communities
Greece becomes the 10th country to join the European Communities, now known as the European Union. -
Schengen Agreement
A small village in Luxembourg gives its name to the Schengen Agreement that gradually allows people to travel without having their passports checked at the borders. -
Spain and Portugal join the European Communities
Spain and Portugal join the European Communities, bringing the total number of members to twelve. -
European Flag
The European flag is raised for the first time in front of the Berlaymont building. The flag is made up of 12 golden stars on a blue background. The number of stars never changes. They stand for the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe. -
Start of Erasmus programme
It looked to promote closer cooperation between universities and higher education institutions across Europe. This meant setting up an organised and integrated system of cross-border student interchange. -
EU Ecolabel
The EU Ecolabel helps consumers, retailers and business make truly sustainable choices.
It means products (goods and services) displaying the iconic "EU flower" symbol meet all the criteria and have earned the right to join the growing EU Ecolabel Community -
Natura 2000
The EU establishes the "Natura 2000" network, which offers a haven to Europe's most threatened wildlife species and habitats. -
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty laid down the foundation for the European Union. The treaty was signed by 12 countries in the Dutch city of Maastricht in 1992 and went into effect in 1993. The agreement established greater cooperation between member states through economic, social, and legal channels. -
Single Market
Thanks to the singles market, launched on 1 January 1993, people, goods, services and money can move around the EU almost as though it were a single country. EU citizens can study, live, shop, work and retire in any country, and enjoy products from all over Europe. -
European Parliament building in Brussels
The oldest European Parliament building in Brussels, which was named after its first President and one of the EU’s founders, Belgian politician Paul-Henri Spaak, opened in 1993. -
European Economic Area
The European Economic Area (EEA) was set up in 1994 to extend the EU’s provisions on its internal market to the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries. The EEA’s parties are Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Switzerland is a member of EFTA but not of the EEA. -
First European Ombudsman
The first Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, was elected by Parliament in 1995. -
Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU
Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU. Before them there were 12 countries, the number of them increased into 15. -
Treaty of Amsterdam
The Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997 -
European Central Bank
Is the central bank of the Eurozone and it's responsable of the monetary politics of the countrys in the monetary Union -
EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights
Enshrins certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union. -
Treaty of Nice
It was an international creating signed in 2001. Who's objectives was to reform the institucional strucuture of the EU. -
First European Day of Languages
The first European Day of Languages is celebrated and continues to be held on this day every year to celebrate the linguistic diversity of a continent with: 24 official EU languages, over 200 European languages and around 60 regional/minority languages. -
The euro
The euro became legally in 12 EU countries in 2002. Each country has its own design. More than 80 billion coins are involved. -
Ten more countries join the EU
On 1 May 2004 ten new countries joined the European Union in its largest ever enlargement: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia -
European Health Insurance Card
The Commission has proposed 1 June 2004 as the launch date of the common European health insurance card. -
Bulgaria and Romania join the EU
Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union, after meeting the necessary criteria and undergoing reforms. This accession expanded the EU's borders to include two additional Eastern European contruies -
A new economic crisis
A new economic crisis denotes a significant downturn in the economy, stemming from factors like financial instability, economic imbalances, policy failures or external shocks -
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon, signed in 2007 and enacted in 2009, amended the EU's primary treaties to enhance efficency, decision-making, and democratic legitimacy -
Croatia joins the EU
Background. Croatia applied for EU membership in 2003 and was in negotiations from 2005 until 2011. On 9 December 2011 leaders from the EU and Croatia signed the accession treaty. The country became the 28th EU member country on 1 July 2013. -
Lithuania adopts the euro
Lithuania, as an EU member state, joined the eurozone by adopting the euro on 1 January 2015. This made it the last of the three Baltic states to adopt the euro, after Estonia (2011) and Latvia (2014). Before then, its currency, the litas, was pegged to the euro at 3.4528 litas to 1 euro. -
International climate change deal
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016. -
Brexit Referendum
In a referendum in the United Kindom, a majority of 52% vote for the country to leave the European Union -
End of roaming charges!
Roaming charges for using mobile phones abroad are scrapped. From this date onwards, when you travel within the EU you can call, text and connect to the internet on your mobile devices for the same price as you pay at home. -
First woman to head the European Commission
The European Parliament elects Ursula von der Leyen as the 2019-2024 President of the European Commission – the first woman ever to hold the position.
As well as being a politician, Ursula von der Leyen is a qualified doctor and has seven children. -
Brexit - UK leaves the EU
Following a referendum on 23 June 2016, Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET). The UK is the only sovereign country to have left the EU. -
Croatia joins de euro area
Croatia adopted the euro as its currency on 1 January 2023, becoming the 20th member state of the eurozone. A fixed conversion rate was set at 1 € = 7.5345 kn.