:''This article refers to the development of what is now the
European Union, and to developments within those countries
which constitute it at the time of, or near to, those events. For wider history of
Europe during this period,
see links below.''
The
European Union is a unique
geo-political entity covering a large portion of the European peninsula. It is founded upon numerous treaties and has undergone expansions that has taken it from 6
member states to 27, a majority of states in Europe.
Its origins date back to the post-
second world war era, in particular the foundation of the
European Coal and Steel Community in
Paris 1951, following the "
Schuman declaration", or the
Treaties of Rome establishing the
European Economic Community. Both these bodies are now part of the European Union, which was formed under that name in 1993.
Pre-1945: The idea of Europe
Main articles: Pre-1945 ideas on European unity
Large areas of Europe had previously been unified by empires built on force, such as the
Roman Empire,
Frankish Empire,
Holy Roman Empire, the
First French Empire or
Nazi Germany. Largely due to the devastating affects of war many people turned to the idea of some form of unified Europe, notably
William Penn,
Abbot Charles de Saint-Pierre,
Victor Hugo and
Giuseppe Mazzini.
Such ideas became greater following the
First World War, with the massive loss of life it entailed, forming organisations such as the
Pan-Europa movement but it was not until after the
Second World War that real steps were taken.
1945-1957: Peace from coal and steel
Main articles: History of the European Communities (1945-1957)
The
Second World War from 1939 to 1945 saw an unprecedented human and economic cost which hit Europe hardest. It demonstrated the horrors of war and also of extremism, through the
holocaust for example. Once again, there was a desire to ensure it could never happen again, particularly with the war giving the world
nuclear weapons and two ideologically opposed superpowers.
[1]
To ensure Germany could never threaten the peace again, its heavy industry was partly dismantled (
The industrial plans for Germany) and its main coal-producing regions were detached (
Saarland,
Silesia), or put under international control (
Ruhr area).
[2]
With statements such as
Winston Churchill's 1946 call for a "
United States of Europe" becoming louder, in 1949 the
Council of Europe was established as the first pan-European organization. In the year following, on
9 May 1950, the
French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed a community to integrate the coal and steel industries of Europe - these being the two elements necessary to make weapons of war. (See:
Schuman declaration).
On the basis of that speech,
France,
Italy, the
Benelux countries (
Belgium,
Netherlands and
Luxembourg) together with
West Germany signed the
Treaty of Paris (1951) creating the
European Coal and Steel Community the following year, this took over the role of the
International Authority for the Ruhr[1] and lifted some restrictions on German industrial productivity. It gave birth to the first institutions; such as the High Authority (now the
European Commission) and the Common Assembly (now the
European Parliament). The first presidents of those institutions were
Jean Monnet and
Paul-Henri Spaak respectively.
After failed attempts at creating defence and politica communities, leaders focused on economic unity, leading to the
Treaties of Rome being signed in 1957 which established the
European Economic Community (EEC) and the
European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) among the members.
[3]
1958-1972: The three Communities
Signing of the Treaties of Rome, 1957
The two new communities were created separately from ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The executives of the new communities were called Commissions, as opposed to the "High Authority". The EEC was headed by
Walter Hallstein (
Hallstein Commission) and Euratom was headed by
Louis Armand (
Armand Commission). Euratom would integrate sectors in
nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a
customs union between members.
[4][5][3]
Throughout the 1960s tensions began to show with
France seeking to limit supranational power and rejecting the membership of the
United Kingdom. However, in 1965 an agreement was reached to merge the three communities under a single set of institutions, hence the
Merger Treaty was signed in Brussels and came into force on
1 July 1967 creating the
European Communities.
[7] Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission (
Rey Commission).
1973-1993: Enlargement to Delors
Enlargement of the Communities (upto the 1990s)
Green: Founding Six. Blue: New countries.
After much negotiation, and following a change in the
French Presidency,
Denmark,
Ireland and the
United Kingdom eventually join the European Communities on
1 January 1973. This is the first of several enlargements which become a major policy area of the Union (see:
Enlargement of the European Union).
[8]
In 1979, the European Parliament holds its first direct elections by universal suffrage (See:
History of the European Parliament). 410 members were elected, who then elected the first female
President of the European Parliament.
[9]
A further enlargement took place in 1981 with
Greece joining on
1 January, six years after applying. In 1985,
Greenland voted to leave the Community after gaining
home rule from
Denmark (See also:
EU territories).
Spain and
Portugal joined (having applied in 1977) on
1 January 1986 in the third enlargement.
[10]
Recently appointed Commission President
Jacques Delors (
Delors Commission) presides over the adoption of the
European flag by the Communities in 1986. In the first major revision of
the treaties since the Merger Treaty, leaders signed the
Single European Act in February 1986. The text dealt with institutional reform, including extension of community powers - in particular in regarding foreign policy. It as a major component in completing the single market and came into force on
1 July 1987.
[11]
In 1987
Turkey formally applies to join the Community and begins the longest application process for any country. In 1989, following upheavals in Eastern Europe, the
Berlin Wall fell, along with the
Iron curtain.
Germany reunified and the door to enlargement to the former eastern bloc was opened (See also:
Copenhagen Criteria).
[12]
With a wave of new enlargements on the way, the
Maastricht Treaty is signed on
7 February 1992 which established the European Union when it came into force the following year.
1993-1999: European Union
On
1 November 1993, under the third
Delors Commission, the Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on the European Union) enters into force creating the European Union with its
pillar system including foreign and home affairs along side the European Community.
[13][14] Under Maastricht, the
Committee of the Regions holds its inaugural session on 9-
10 March 1994 with the election of Jacques Blanc as its President. On
25 May, the
European Investment Fund was established by the
EIB. The
European Police Office is created on
26 July 1995 with the signing of the
Europol convention.
On 9-
12 June 1994, the
fourth European elections are held resulting in a
Socialist victory. During its first session, 19-
26 July, Parliament elects
Klaus Hänsch as its President and approves
Jacques Santer as Commission President. His Commissioners are approved on the
18 January 1995 and take office on the 23rd. On
19 July1997,
José María Gil Robles is elected President of the Parliament.
In 1999, allegations of fraud against members of the
Santer Commission emerge, confirmed by independent reports. Individual members targeted refuse to resign, the Parliament tables a motion of censure against the Commission (first time it does so) and the entire Commission as a body resigns on mass without the motion being passed. It is replaced by the temporary
Marín Commission until it is replaced. On
24 March,
Romano Prodi is designated as the next Commission President.
Free movement
On
1 January 1994 the
European Economic Area (EEA) enters into force, allowing
EFTA members
Norway and
Iceland to enter the single European market (created the previous year) without joining the Union, in exchange for financial contributions and taking on of relevant of EU law.
Switzerland had rejected membership and
Liechtenstein joins the following year on
1 May.
[15] On
23 February 1995 the
ECJ gives the "Bordessa ruling": citizens may export
banknotes without prior authorisation (
free movement of capital). Later that year on
15 December, it gives the
Bosman ruling, ruling that restriction on number of (EU) foreign players in football teams is illegal (
free movement of people).
The
Schengen Agreement (signed in 1985) comes into force on
26 March 1995 between Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Austria signs up on
28 April followed by Denmark, Finland and Sweden on
19 December 1996 along side non-EU members
Norway and
Iceland. The EU-
Turkey customs union entered into force on
1 January 1996.
Former Yugoslavia
Main articles: Yugoslav wars
During the 90s, the CFSP began to develop during the conflicts in the Balkans. There was a failure to react during the beginning of the conflict, with the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) having to
intervene in the war following the failure of
UN Peacekeepers from Netherlands failed to prevent the
Srebrenica massacre (July 1995) in
Bosnia and Herzegovina: the largest mass murder in Europe since the second world war. On
14 December 1995 the
Dayton Agreement signed in
Paris, ending the conflict in
Croatia and
Bosnia and Herzegovina - those countries have been on the path to joining the EU ever since. On
24 March 1999, the situation on Kosovo led to an EU CFSP declaration on Kosovo and the
NATO intervention in
Kosovo begins. There was greater EU involvement in these events but still prompted a desire for greater EU action in foreign affairs.
[16]
Economic and Monetary Union
Main articles: Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
On 1st January 1994, the second stage of the
EMU begins with the establishment of the
European Monetary Institute. On
16 December 1995, the introduction of the
euro is decided for
1 January 1999. On
3 May 1998, The Council decides 11 members shall adopt the
euro in 1999 and lay down specifications and conversion rates. On
1 June the
European Central Bank is established. Final meetings are held in December with irrevocable conversion rates being set on the
31 December. It was successfully introduced on time, but would be another few years before it became the sole official currency in the 11 members.
★
Finnish mark enters the
ERM on
14 October 1996
★
Italian lira re-enters the ERM on
25 November
★
Greek drachma enters the ERM on
16 January 1998
Fourth enlargement
On
30 March 1994, accession negotiations conclude with
Austria,
Sweden,
Finland and
Norway who had applied since the fall of the iron curtain; allowing them, as cold war neutral countries, to now align themselves with the Union. Their
accession treaties are signed on
25 June of that month. Each country holds
referendums on entry resulting on entry for all except Norway (its second failed referendum);
★
Austria - 66.6% in favour (
June 12); application submitted in July 1989
★
Finland - 56.9% in favour (
October 16); application submitted in March 1992 (separate referendum held in
Åland)
★
Sweden - 52.8% in favour (
November 13); application submitted in July 1991
★
Norway - 47.8% in favour (
November 28); application submitted in December 1992
Austria,
Finland and
Sweden became EU members on
1 January 1995. Sweden held their elections to the parliament later that year on
17 September. The following year, Austria held its elections on
13 October and Finland on
20 October.
Until 2004 the fifteen member countries were:
Austria,
Belgium,
Denmark,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Ireland,
Italy,
Luxembourg,
The Netherlands,
Portugal,
Spain,
Sweden and
United Kingdom.
Amsterdam Treaty
Main articles: Amsterdam Treaty
The intergovernmental conference leading to the Treaty of Amsterdam opened on
29 March 1996 in
Turin. On
22 July 1997, leaders of the
Western European Union met and adopted a declaration, to be added to the treaty, defining its role with the EU and NATO. The Treaty was signed by foreign ministers on
2 October. The treaty entered into for on
1 May 1999.
The treaty sought to create an "area of freedom, justice and security" as well as strengthen the CFSP. There would also be institutional reforms to make the Union more democratic and adjust it to enlargement.
[17]
:''Source of majority of dates used:
Europa, History of EU 1990-1999''
1999-2004: "Prime Minister of Europe"
On
1 May, 1999,
Amsterdam Treaty entered into force.
5 May; Parliament approved Romano Prodi as Commission President. Under the new powers of the Amsterdam Treaty, Prodi was described by some as the 'First Prime Minister of Europe'.
[18] On
4 June,
Javier Solana was appointed Secretary General of the Council and the strengthened
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy admitted the intervention in Kosovo - Solana was also seen by some as Europe's first
Foreign Minister.
[19]
On 10-
13 June 199 the
Fifth European elections were held in all 15 members. On
20 July it elected
Nicole Fontaine as its President and it approved the
Prodi Commission on
15 September and it subsequently took office. In response to the recent scandal around the Santer Commission,
OLAF was set up on
18 June 1999 to fight fraud in the Union's institutions. The Parliament later elected its new President,
Pat Cox, on
16 January 2002.
Euro
With the euro coming into existence earlier in 1999, 2000 saw the Commission recommending Greece joining the
eurozone - which it did at the start of 2001. However both Denmark and Sweden rejected the currency on
28 September 2000 and
14 September 2003 respectively. On 1 January 2002, the Euro came into circulation in all 12 member states and became the sole currency on
28 February.
Treaties
To deal with the impending enlargement in 2004 leaders met in Nice on
7 December 2000 to create a new treaty that would ensure the functioning of the Union with the extra members. The
Nice Treaty was signed two months later on
26 February 2001 and came into force on
1 February 2003. During the ratification period, the
European Convention began work on the
European Constitution with it starting work from
28 February 2002, shortly after the Paris Treaty establishing the ECSC expired on
23 July.
On the basis of the work of the European Convention, an
Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) is held in Rome on
4 October 2003 to make changes the proposed text. It is signed in Rome on the
28 October 2004 by all the EU leaders.
Fifth Enlargement
Since the 1990s, numerous states were moving towards membership. Following on from 1995, and aside from the aspirations of Turkey, there were 12 countries advanced on the path to membership. These were: the two Mediterranean countries of
Malta and
Cyprus; the former
Yugoslav republic of
Slovenia; and 9 former eastern bloc countries of
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Poland, the
Czech Republic,
Slovakia,
Hungary,
Romania and
Bulgaria.
It was hoped that
Cyprus would join as a unified island (with the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). However, the
reunification plan was rejected by Southern
Greek Cypriots in a
2004 referendum. The accession treaties were signed on
16 April 2003 in
Athens. Romania and Bulgaria were not among the 10 chosen to accede in 2004.
1 May, 2004; The Union expanded from 15 to 25 members, the largest single expansion in its history. Its population jumped from 381 million to 456 million and its size grew from 737 to 3367 thousand km² (See
Enlargement Statistics). The 10 countries also brought with them 162 MEPs and 10 Commissioners, who joined the
Prodi Commission on May 1st.
:''Source of majority of dates used:
Europa, History of EU 2000-Present''
2004-Present: Recent history
Enlargement of the Union from 1993 onwards.
Green: Pre-Maastricht. Blue: New countries.
On the 10-
13 June 2004, the 25 member states participated in the largest trans-national election in history (with the second largest democratic electorate in the world). The result of the
sixth Parliamentary election was a second victory for the
European People's Party-European Democrats group. It also saw the lowest
voter turnout of 45.5%, the second time it had fallen below 50%.
[20]
On
22 July 2004,
José Manuel Barroso is approved by the new Parliament as the next Commission President. However his new team of 25 Commissioners faced a tougher road. With Parliament raising objections to a number of his candidates he was forced to withdraw his selection and try once more. The Prodi Commission had to extend their mandate to the
22 November after the new line up of Commissioners was finally approved.
[21]
Constitution
Early on in Barroso's administration, ratification of the Constitution got underway. Four referendums were held, the first was in Spain. Spanish voters
approved the constitution by 77%, French voters
rejected it by 58%, Dutch voters
rejected it by 61% and Luxembourgian voters
approved it by 57%. As a result of the French and Dutch no votes, ratification stalled and the Union entered a "period of reflection".
On the
25 March 2007 the
Berlin Declaration was signed (for the 50th anniversary of the
Treaties of Rome), it was hoped it would give new impetus to finding a new institutional settlement by the elections in 2009.
[22]
Enlargement and euro
In 2007, the fifth enlargement completed with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January. 53 MEPs joined the Parliament along with two Commissioners, for which two new posts were created in the Commission. The post created for the Romanian Commissioner was
Multilingualism, which was criticised by some for its narrow scope.
[23]
On the same day, Slovenia adopted the euro, after other candidates such as Lithuania were turn down due to inflation.
[24] Malta and Cyprus are due to join on 1 January 2008.
[25]
Timeline of treaties
See also
★
History of the European Parliament
★
History of the European Commission
★
History of EU Presidents
★
Founding fathers of the European Union
★
History of the European Union in Brussels
★
History of Europe
Wider European history post 1945
★
End of World War II in Europe
★
Cold War
★
Breakup of Yugoslavia
External links
★
History of the EU Official Europa website
★
European Navigator Multimedia Guide to EU History
★
photo album of the history of the EU
References
1. Europe in ruins in the aftermath of the Second World War ena.lu
2.
★ French proposal regarding the detachment of German industrial regions September 8, 1945
France, Germany and the Struggle for the War-making Natural Resources of the RhinelandLetter from Konrad Adenauer to Robert Schuman (26 July 1949) Warning him of the consequences of the dismantling policy. (requires Flash Player)
Letter from Ernest Bevin to Robert Schuman (30 October 1949) British and French foreign ministers. Bevin argues that they need to reconsider the Allies' dismantling policy in the occupied zones (requires Flash Player)
3. A peaceful Europe - the beginnings of cooperation europa.eu
4. A European Atomic Energy Community ena.lu
5. A European Customs Union ena.lu
6. A peaceful Europe - the beginnings of cooperation europa.eu
7. Merging the executives ena.lu
8. The first enlargement ena.lu
9. The new European Parliament ena.lu
10. Negotiations for enlargement ena.lu
11. Single European Act ena.lu
12. The fall of the Berlin Wall ena.lu
13. 1993 europa.eu
14. Characteristics of the Treaty on European Union ena.lu
15. European Economic Area ena.lu
16. Chris Patten: Towards a Common Foreign Policy ec.europa.eu
17. The Treaty of Amsterdam ena.lu
18. Prodi to Have Wide, New Powers as Head of the European Commission iht.com 16/04/1999
19. Javier Solana/Spain: Europe's First Foreign Minister? businessweek.com
20. Vote EU 2004 news.bbc.co.uk
21. The new commission - some initial thoughts bmbrussels.b
22. EU Leaders Adopt 50th Anniversary Berlin Declaration dw-world.de 25/03/07
23. Romanian to Become EU's First Commissioner for Multilingualism dw-world.de 11/12/06
24. Slovenia clear to adopt the euro news.bbc.co.uk 16/06/06
25. Cyprus and Malta set to join eurozone in 2008 euractiv.com 16/05/07
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