Timeline of Key EU Events

1951: The Treaty of Paris is signed, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), including Belgium, West Germany, France, Luxembourg, Italy and the Netherlands. The Treaty came into force in 1952, and expired in 2002.

1957: The Treaties of Rome are signed - one establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and one establishing the European Economic Community (EEC). The Treaties came into force in 1958.

1963: The UK's attempt to join the EEC, initiated in 1961, was blocked by Charles de Gaulle.

1967: The Merger Treaty (signed in 1965) united the three communities into a single European Economic Community (EEC).

1967: A second UK attempt to join was blocked by President de Gaulle.

1973: The Treaty of Accession, bringing the UK, Ireland and Denmark into the EEC, came into force.

1979: The establishment of the European Monetary System (EMS), including the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

1979: The European Parliament was established.

1981: Greece joined the EEC.

1986: Spain and Portugal joined the EEC.

1986: The Single European Act was signed. The Act came into force in 1987.

1990: West and East Germany reunified, bringing East Germany into the EEC.

1990: Stage 1 of European Monetary Union began, with the removal of all restrictions on capital movements.

1990: The UK joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

1992: 'Black Wednesday' sees the UK (and Italy) forced out of the ERM. £4 billion of reserves were spent attempting to sustain the value of sterling and interest rates rose from 10 per cent to 15 per cent in a single day - all to no avail.

1992: The Treaty of Maastricht was signed. The Treaty came into force in 1993.

1994: Stage 2 of EMU began, with the establishment of the advisory European Monetary Institute, ahead of the establishment of the European System of Central Banks. Monetary policy, although controlled by Member States, was from now on conducted in line with a set of non-binding guidelines.

1995: Austria, Sweden and Finland joined the EU, under the Treaty of Corfu (signed in 1994).

1997: The Treaty of Amsterdam was signed. It came into force in 1999.

1997: Agenda 2000 was published, setting out a blueprint for the structure of the EU over the next 100 years.

1999: Stage 3 of EMU began, with the creation of the euro and the locking-in of member state exchange rates

2001: The Treaty of Nice was signed. It came into force in 2003-10-21

2001: In response to the rejection of the Nice Treaty by the Irish people in a referendum, the European Commission produced a White Paper on EU Governance, which will be debated at the 2004 IGC.

2002: The euro replaced Member States' own currencies.

2003: The Convention on the Future of Europe published its draft Constitutional Treaty and the Treaty of Accession was signed. It comes into force in 2004.

2004: The Accession Treaty entered into force and the EU enlarged to include 10 new Member States: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

2005: The French and the Dutch reject the European constitution in national referendums, causing what some believed to be a fatal blow to the document.

2007: Romania and Bulgaria join the EU, taking membership to 27 states.