| 1947 |
Winston Churchill calls for a United States of Europe |
| 1947 |
Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe |
| 1948 |
Establishment of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) |
| 1948 |
Establishment of the Western Union (United Kingdom, France, Benelux countries) |
| 1949 |
Establishment of NATO |
| 1949 |
Establishment of the Council of Europe |
| 1952 |
Establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (Benelux countries, Italy, France, Germany) |
| 1954 |
Establishment of the Western European Union (WEU) |
| 1958 |
Entry into force of the treaties establishing the EEC and Euratom (Benelux countries, Italy, France, Germany) |
| 1960 |
Conclusion of the convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) |
| 1960 |
Re-organisation of OEEC into OECD |
| 1962 |
Establishment of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) |
| 1966 |
Luxembourg compromise |
| 1967 |
Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities (Merger Treaty) |
| 1968 |
Entry into force of the Customs Union of the European Communities (EC) |
| 1973 |
Accession of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark to the EC |
| 1979 |
Implementation of the European Monetary System (EMS) and adoption of the European currency unit (ECU) |
| 1979 |
First elections to the European Parliament |
| 1981 |
Accession of Greece to the EC |
| 1986 |
Accession of Portugal and Spain to the EC |
| 1987 |
Entry into force of the Single European Act (SEA) |
| 1990 |
Beginning of the first stage of EMU |
| 1990 |
Reunification of Germany |
| 1993 |
Entry into force of the Treaty establishing the European Union (Maastricht Treaty) |
| 1994 |
Beginning of the second stage of EMU |
| 1994 |
Entry into force of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) |
| 1995 |
Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden to the EU |
| 1994-1996 |
Application of 10 Central and Eastern European countries for EU membership |
| 1996 |
Intergovernmental Conference preparing the accession process and the Amsterdam Treaty |
| 1998 |
Opening of accession negotiations with 5 CEE countries (incl. Estonia) and Cyprus |
| 1999 |
Beginning of the third stage of EMU, adoption of the single currency euro as an electronic currency in 11
countries (excl. Greece, United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden) |
| 1999 |
Entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty |
| 1999 |
Opening of accession negotiations with 5 more CEE countries, Malta and Turkey |
| 2000 |
Intergovernmental Conference preparing the institutional reform and the EU enlargement |
| 2001 |
Adoption of the single currency euro in Greece |
| 2001 |
Entry into force of the Treaty of Nice |
| 2002 |
Adoption of the euro as banknotes and coins in 12 Member States |
| 2004 |
Accession of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and
Slovenia to the EU on 1 May |
| 2007 |
Accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU on 1 January (the number of EU Member States reaches 27) |
