Timeline of European Union history

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

European Coal and Steel Community

European Economic Community

European Communities

European Union

• 2017 – Negotiations between UK and the EU officially started in June 2017, aiming to complete the withdrawal agreement by October 2019
• 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 is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 at 11 p.m. UK time, when the period for negotiating a withdrawal agreement will end unless an extension is agreed
• 2016 – UK holds a Membership Referendum and votes to leave the European Union
• 2013 – Accession of Croatia
• 2009 – Lisbon Treaty abolishes the three pillars of the European Union
• 2007 – Accession of Bulgaria and Romania
• 2005 – France and the Netherlands reject the Constitution after own internal referendums (for France it was a binding one only)
• 2004 – Accession of ten countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia); signing of Constitution
• 2002 – The euro replaces twelve national currencies
• 1999 – Fraud in the Commission results in resignation
• 1995 – Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden
• 1993 – Copenhagen criteria defined
• 1992 – Maastricht Treaty formally called the Treaty on European Union - The European Union is born and Europe was introduced as the fellow currency (Denmark and the UK are not included in the EMU (European Monetary Union).
• 1989 – The fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe
• 1986 – Single European Act; Accession of Portugal and Spain; flag adopted
• 1985 – Delors Commission, Greenland leaves Community.
• 1981 – Accession of Greece
• 1979 – First direct elections to Parliament
• 1973 – Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the UK
• 1967 – ECSC, EEC and Euratom merged
• 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 votes UK entry
• 1957 – Treaty of Rome creates European Economic Community (by "The Six": Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany)
• 1951 – Treaty of Paris creates Coal and Steel Community
• 1945 – The end of World War II

• History of the European Union
  • Ideas of European unity before 1945
  • History of the European Coal and Steel Community (1945–1957)
  • History of the European Communities (1958–1972)
  • History of the European Communities (1973–1993)
  • History of the European Union (1993–2004)
  • History of the European Union (since 2004)
• European Coal and Steel Community
• European Economic Community

• A timeline of the EU – BBC News.
• The history of the European Union – Europa
• European Union Politics Timeline - Oxford University Press: European Union Politics Resource Centre
• Archival material concerning the history of the European Union can be consulted at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence