Timeline of European Union history

Distinct periods

• Ideas before 1945
• 1945–1957
• 1958–1972
• 1973–1993
• 1993–2004
• 2004–present

  Individual years

Key events

• 1945 – The end of World War II
• 1951 – Treaty of Paris creates Coal and Steel Community
• 1957 – Treaty of Rome creates European Economic Community
• 1963 – Ankara Agreement initiated a three-step process toward creating a Customs Union which would help secure Turkey's full membership in the EEC.
• 1963 – Charles de Gaulle vetoes UK entry
• 1967 – ECSC, EEC and Euratom merged
• 1973 – Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the UK
• 1979 – First direct elections to Parliament
• 1981 – Accession of Greece
• 1985 – Delors Commission, Greenland leaves Community.
• 1986 – Single European Act; Accession of Portugal and Spain; flag adopted
• 1989 – The fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe
• 1992 – Maastricht Treaty formally called the Treaty on European Union - The European Union is born and Euro was introduced as the fellow currency.
• 1993 – Copenhagen criteria defined
• 1995 – Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden
• 1999 – Fraud in the Commission results in resignation
• 2002 – The euro replaces twelve national currencies
• 2004 – Accession of ten countries ; signing of Constitution
• 2005 – France and the Netherlands reject the Constitution after own internal referendums
• 2007 – Accession of Bulgaria and Romania
• 2009 – Lisbon Treaty abolishes the three pillars of the European Union
• 2013 – Accession of Croatia
• 2016 – UK holds a Membership Referendum and votes to leave the European Union
• 2017 – Negotiations between UK and the EU officially started in June 2017
• 2017 – Start of Brexit: On 29 March 2017, the Government of the United Kingdom invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The UK was due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 at 11 p.m. GMT, when the period for negotiating a withdrawal agreement was set to end
• 2020 – UK leaves the EU after the Brexit withdrawal agreement takes effect on 31 January 2020 at 11 p.m. GMT

  Structural evolution