The E.U. - How it all started.

Following the Second World War, six European countries got together to find a way of ensuring peace amongst their nations. France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Italy, 'the Six', collectively decided that the best way to achieve this was to work together on coal and steel production as these were the main resources required for fighting wars. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was established in May 1952.

The success of the ECSC led to 'the Six' seeking to expand this co-operation to other areas. This led to the Treaty of Rome which was signed in March 1957 and established the Common Market. This treaty created two more international bodies; the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), to work alongside the ECSC.

The EEC soon became the most influential of these bodies, so in 1965 a treaty was signed that drew together these  separate elements. The European Economic Community was born. Denmark, Ireland and the U.K. joined in January 1973. The first elections to the European 'parliament' were held in 1979 and take place every five years. Greece joined in 1981, followed by Portugal and Spain in 1986. The present fifteen member states was completed when Sweden, Finland and Austria joined in 1996

1986 saw major advances towards integration. European passports were introduced, the European flag was first flown and there was now even a European anthem, to the tune of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. The Single European Act also came into force to remove artificial trade barriers between states so that goods, capital, services and people could move, live and work freely and without restriction in any of the Member countries.

The most far reaching treaty regarding the EEC's roles and responsibilities took place in 1991 at a meeting in Maastricht, Netherlands. The Maastricht Treaty or the Treaty of the European Union brought all the different organisations into a single framework now known as the European Union called the E.U. The Treaty paved the way for economic and monetary union (the Euro), introduced policies covering social issues such as workers rights and health and safety and started the process of expansion. This expansion would enable other, mostly eastern European countries to join the E.U. The treaty also meant that the citizens from one E.U. country could travel and work freely in another E.U. country. On January 1st 1993 all trade barriers were removed, thus creating the Single Market.

The Maastricht treaty was updated in June 1997 with the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam. It included further preparations for enlargement and reinforced the 'Social Chapter' which includes law on employment and discrimination. In 1998 formal negotiations were started with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Cyprus. A year later, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Malta opened membership negotiations. Turkey has also applied for membership.

In January 1999, eleven countries met the rules for adoption of the Euro as their official currency on 1st January 2000. Greece met the criteria two years later. National currencies in these countries were replaced with the Euro in January 2002. The U.K., Sweden and Denmark retained their national currencies.