# Building Europe: from coal and steel to union European integration treaty by treaty: Paris, Rome, Schengen, Maastricht, Lisbon. *This story part of: World order: the transnational forums* *This story part of: State, law, and coercion* *The world trade and money order parallel this story* *The Holy Roman Empire: neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire parallel this story* *From Bretton Woods to the euro: monetary regimes around Japan parallel this story* ## 7 May 1948 — Congress of The Hague Gathering of hundreds of delegates from across Europe, chaired by Winston Churchill, to debate how to unite the continent after the war. It called for a European assembly and a charter of rights, and led directly to the founding of the Council of Europe. ## 5 May 1949 — Statute of the Council of Europe Treaty signed by ten states creating the Council of Europe, the continent's first postwar political body, based in Strasbourg. It was meant to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, though it had no power to make binding law. ## 9 May 1950 — Schuman Declaration French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed pooling French and German coal and steel production under a shared authority, an idea drafted by Jean Monnet. The plan aimed to make another war between the two countries unthinkable, and it launched the process of European integration. The date is now marked as Europe Day. ## 18 April 1951 — Treaty of Paris (1951) Treaty creating the European Coal and Steel Community among France, West Germany, Italy, and the Benelux states, pooling the industries of war. It was the first step of European integration. > "two decades later, in 1951, a survey made of 30,000 Los Angeles school children dis- covered that seventy-five percent of eighth graders couldn’t find the Atlantic Ocean on a map and most of them couldn’t calculate fifty percent of thirty-six." > — Dumbing Us Down, p. 128-134 ## 25 March 1957 — Treaty of Rome Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, creating a common market among six states. It is the founding treaty of what became the European Union. ## 30 January 1962 — Common Agricultural Policy The six member states of the European Economic Community agreed on a shared farm policy with guaranteed prices, common markets, and subsidies. It became the largest single item in the community budget and one of its most contested programs. ## 8 April 1965 — Merger Treaty Treaty combining the executive bodies of the three European Communities into a single Commission and Council. It streamlined the institutions and took effect in 1967. ## 1 January 1973 — First enlargement of the European Communities The United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark joined the European Communities, expanding the founding six to nine members. Norway had negotiated entry too but its voters rejected membership in a referendum. ## 7 June 1979 — First direct elections to the European Parliament Voters across the nine member states elected members of the European Parliament directly for the first time, rather than having national parliaments appoint them. It gave the assembly a popular mandate, though its powers were still limited. ## 14 June 1985 — Schengen Agreement Five states signed an agreement aboard a boat on the Moselle to gradually abolish checks at their shared borders. It grew into the Schengen Area, where people can travel between member countries without passport controls. ## 17 February 1986 — Single European Act First major revision of the Treaty of Rome, committing members to complete the single market by 1992 and expanding majority voting. It relaunched European integration. ## 19 June 1990 — Schengen Implementing Convention ## 1992 — Maastricht Treaty lays foundations for European monetary union The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 laid the foundations for monetary union in Europe and defined the role of a totally independent European Central Bank, becoming the model for central bank independence worldwide. > "The most forceful case in favor of central bank independence was made in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, which laid the foundations for monetary union in Europe." > — Princes of the Yen ## 7 February 1992 — Maastricht Treaty European leaders sign the treaty creating the European Union and committing to a single currency. The EU becomes the deepest experiment in pooling national sovereignty, later launching the euro. ## 22 June 1993 — Copenhagen criteria At a European Council summit, EU leaders set the conditions a country must meet to join the Union, covering stable democracy, a working market economy, and acceptance of EU law. These rules guided the later expansion into central and eastern Europe. ## 1 January 1999 — Launch of the euro Eleven European Union countries fix their currencies to the new euro, managed by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. The single currency creates the world's second most important monetary area. ## 1 May 2004 — Eastern enlargement of the European Union Ten countries joined the EU at once, including Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states, most of them former communist countries. It was the largest single expansion in the Union's history and reunited much of the continent after the Cold War. ## 29 May 2005 — Rejection of the European Constitution Voters in France and then the Netherlands rejected the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, halting the plan. Much of its content was later repackaged in the Lisbon Treaty, but the defeat exposed deep public doubts about the pace of integration. ## 13 December 2007 — Treaty of Lisbon EU treaty reforming the Union's institutions, creating a permanent European Council president and strengthening the parliament, after the failed constitutional treaty. It is the current legal basis of the European Union. ## c. 2 May 2010 — European sovereign debt crisis Greece received the first of several bailouts as high public debt threatened to break up the eurozone, followed by rescues for Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Cyprus. The crisis forced new bailout funds and tighter budget rules, and tested whether the single currency could survive without deeper political union. ## 23 June 2016 — Brexit referendum British voters choose to leave the European Union by 52 to 48 percent. The vote reverses decades of European integration, reshapes British politics, and signals a wider revolt against globalization. ## 31 January 2020 — United Kingdom leaves the European Union The United Kingdom formally left the European Union after nearly half a century of membership, entering a transition period to settle future relations. It was the first country ever to withdraw from the Union.