The European Union is a unique geo-political entity covering a large portion of the European continent. 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
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 effects 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
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
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][6]

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
After much negotiation, and following a change in the French Presidency, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom eventually joined 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: The 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 March to 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 June to 12 June 1994, the fourth European elections are held resulting in a Socialist victory. During its first session, 19 July to 26 July, Parliament elects Klaus Hänsch as its President and approves Jacques Santer as Commission President. His Commissioners are approved on 18 January 1995 and take office on the 23rd. On 19 July 1997, 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, alongside non-EU members Norway and Iceland, on 19 December 1996. The EU-Turkey customs union entered into force on 1 January 1996.

Former Yugoslavia
Main article: Yugoslav wars
During the 90s, the development EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was given a strong impetus by the conflicts in the Balkans. The EU failed to react during the beginning of the conflict, and UN peacekeepers from the Netherlands failed to prevent the Srebrenica massacre (July 1995) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest mass murder in Europe since the second world war. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) finally had to intervene in the war, forcing the combatants to the negotiation table. On 14 December 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris, ending the conflict in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On 24 March 1999, the situation on Kosovo led to an EU CFSP declaration on Kosovo and prompted a NATO intervention in Kosovo and Serbia. While there was greater EU involvement in the Kosovo conflict than in the Bosnian conflict, the failure of the EU to prevent the conflicts in former Yugoslavia, or to bring them to a quick close, heightened the desire for greater EU effectiveness in foreign affairs.[16]

Economic and Monetary Union
Main article: Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
On 1 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. Sweden and Finland 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
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]

Amsterdam also incorporated the conclusions of the 1992 Edinburgh European Council which set out the current arrangements in regards to the seat of the institutions; the Parliament shall be based in Strasbourg, where it must hold “twelve periods of monthly plenary sessions, including the budget session”. However additional sessions may be held in Brussels, which is where committees must also meet while the secretariat must remain in Luxembourg. The Commission and Council would be based in Brussels however some Council meetings and some departments of the Commission would be in Luxembourg which would also host the judicial and financial bodies of the EU. However the Cnetral Bank would be in Frankfurt and Europol in the Hauge.[18]

1999–2004
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’.[19] 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.[20]

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.

The 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 in referendums held on 28 September 2000 and 14 September 2003, respectively. On 1 January 2002, the physical euro currency came into circulation in the 12 eurozone states, and became the sole legal currency of eurozone 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.

The Commission and the European Parliament were disappointed that the Nice Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) did not adopt many of their proposals for reform of the institutional structure or introduction of new Community powers, such as the appointment of a European Public Prosecutor. The European Parliament threatened to pass a resolution against the Treaty; although it has no formal power of veto, the Italian Parliament threatened that it would not ratify without the European Parliament’s support. However, in the end this did not come to pass and the European Parliament approved the Treaty.

During the ratification period of the Nice Treaty, 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.

2004–present: Recent history
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%.[21]

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.[22]

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.[23]

Enlargement and the 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.[24]

On the same day, Slovenia adopted the euro, after other candidates such as Lithuania were turn down due to inflation.[25] Malta and Cyprus are due to adopt the euro on 1 January 2008.[26]