EU history

Founding principles and joiners

EU history began with the EU’s predecessors from the aftermath of the Second World War and the principles of creating a peaceful, united and prosperous Europe.

The founding fathers fostered economic cooperation. They believed that countries that are economically interdependent are less likely to start a conflict. In 1949, they created the Council of Europe, closely followed by the setting up of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1950 and the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957.

The ECSC came into force with six nations in 1951 and eventually evolved into today’s EU with 27 member states. The EU itself came into existence in 1993, following the Maastricht Treaty, and continues to evolve.

Some key dates in EU history:

• In 1951, ECSC came into force with founders: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
• In 1957, they founded the EEC and the European Atomic Energy Community.
• On 1 January 1958, the Treaty of Rome established the four freedoms of movement of persons (initially workers), capital, goods and services.
• In 1973, the Denmark, Ireland and the UK and joined.
• Between 1981 and 1986, Greece, Portugal and Spain joined.
• 1993 – Maastricht Treaty came into force
• 1995 – Austria, Finland and Sweden joined.
• 2004 – Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined.
• 2007 – Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania joined.
• 2009 – Lisbon Treaty came into force.
• On 1 July 2013, Croatia became the 28th EU Member State.
• On 31 January 2020, the UK left the EU, leaving 27.

The UK may have left, but there are several countries queuing up to join (listed in the box in Figure 1.1).

Note that Turkey’s accession process is at a standstill, although it has received financial support from the EU for Pre-accession Assistance. For the latest picture on accession countries, please see the section on the accession process

Figure 1.1: EU history – years of joining

Sources:
European Union and image from BBC website (no longer available); text boxes have been added
Treaty of Rome (in French), signed 25 March 1957, effective 1 January 1958
European Union, EU enlargement (accessed May 2024)

European flag

In 1955, the Council of Europe, which is separate from the EU, adopted the European flag (Figure 1.2). The Council of Europe is an international organisation with 46 members (including the UK) that defends human rights and promotes European culture.

The flag symbolises the values and identity of millions of Europeans. It features a circle of 12 gold stars on a blue background. They stand for the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe (and have nothing to do with the number of member countries).

The Council of Europe encouraged the emerging European institutions to adopt its flag. In 1983 the European Parliament proposed adoption of the flag by the European Communities (or the European Economic Community, the EEC or the Common Market). In 1985, the European Council adopted the flag as the official emblem of the European Communities, which, in 1993 became the EU.

Figure 1.2: European flag

Source: EU website

UK accession and referendum

In 1973, the UK joined along with Denmark and Ireland. 

It was clear to the UK at the time of joining that the European Community was about much more than trade – see the open letter from the then Prime Minister, Edward Heath, in Figure 1.3.

“The Community which we are joining is far more than a common market”, Edward Heath, Prime Minister, December 1972

Figure 1.3: Open letter from Edward Heath – 1972

After the UK joined the European Community in 1973, a referendum in 1975 approved the UK’s decision to stay in the EC:

• 17.4 million voted in favour of staying in and 8.5 million voted against – a majority of 8.9 million
• The vote was 67.2% in favour to 32.8% against (a majority of 34.4%) with a turnout of 64.6%
• As a percentage of the whole electorate (i.e. including those who didn’t vote), the majority was 43.4% in favour to 21.2% against, with 35.4% not voting.

For a comparison with the 2016 referendum result, please see Appendix A – referendum analysis.

EU treaties

The EU is a union of sovereign nations; it is not a state or a country. The treaties, agreed by all member countries, describe the basis of the EU. They define in legal terms the rights and obligations of the member states and the roles of the institutions of the EU.

In 1950, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, proposed integrating western Europe’s coal and steel industries. The first treaty, the Treaty of Paris, set out his ideas and led to the European Coal and Steel Community. Since then, the EU and its predecessors have regularly updated and added to the treaties to ensure effective policy and decision-making. The Treaty of Paris of 18 April 1951 entered into force in 1952 followed by:

• Treaties of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), were signed in Rome on 25 March 1957 and came into force in 1958. The treaties of Rome set out the four freedoms.
• Merger Treaty of 1965 came into force in 1967 and merged the executive bodies of the existing European Communities into a single Commission, and established a single Council of the European Communities.
• Treaty of Luxembourg of 1970, came into force in 1971 and amended budgetary provisions in the treaties to increase the budgetary powers of the Assembly, and introduce a system to finance the Community budget.
• Treaty of Brussels of 1975, came into force in 1977 and further amended budgetary provisions in the treaties. The European Parliament secured the right to reject the Community budget and to grant discharge to the European Commission in respect of implementation of the budget. It also provided for the establishment of a Court of Auditors.
• Single European Act (SEA) was signed in February 1986 and came into force in 1987. It amended the EEC Treaty and paved the way for completing the Single Market.
• Maastricht Treaty – the Treaty on European Union – was signed on 7 February 1992 and came into force in 1993:
  • established the EU, in which member states confer competences to attain common objectives;
  • introduced ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen;
  • envisaged the European Central Bank, which was established on 1 June 1998 to launch the euro and safeguard its value. 
• Amsterdam Treaty signed on 2 October 1997, came into force in 1999 and amended previous treaties.
• Nice Treaty signed on 26 February 2001 and entered into force in 2003. It streamlined the EU institutional system so that it could continue to work effectively after the new wave of Member States joining in 2004.
• Lisbon Treaty signed on 13 December 2007 and came into force in 2009. It simplified working methods and voting rules, and created a President of the European Council:
  • introduced new structures with a view to making the EU a stronger actor on the global stage;
  • determined the areas, limits and arrangements for exercising the EU’s competences.

Euratom has a separate treaty of 1957 between its members.

For more details on the treaties and the European Parliament, please visit the EU website.