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French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presents a plan for deeper cooperation.Later, every 9 May is celebrated as EUROPE DAY
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Based on the Schuman plan, six countries sign a treaty to run their heavy industries– coal and steel – under a common management. In this way, nonecan on its own make the weapons of war to turn against the other, as in the past. The six are Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg
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Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the European Union on 1 January 1973, raising the number of member states to nine.
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Membership of the EU reaches double figures when Greece joins.
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Spain and Portugal enter the EU, bringing membership to 12.
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The Berlin Wall is pulled down and the border between East and West Germany is opened for the first time in 28 years.
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The Treaty on European Union, is signed in Maastricht in the Netherlands, setting clear rules for the future single currency as well as for foreign and security policy and closer cooperation in justice and home affairs. Under the treaty, the ‘European Union’ is officially created.
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Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU. The 15 members now cover almost the whole of western Europe.
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Euro notes and coins become the legal currency in 12 EU countries.
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Eight countries of central and eastern Europe — Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia— join the EU.
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Two more countries from eastern Europe - Bulgaria and Romania - join the EU,bringing the number of Member States to 27.
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The EU is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for over six decades [having]contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy andhuman rights in Europe".
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Croatia joins the EU, becoming its 28th member.
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However, in 2016, one member—the United Kingdom—voted to leave the EU. The country officially left the union on January 31, 2020.
