Envoyer à un ami

Imprimer

Ajouter à mon dossier

It was in 1944 in a world ravaged by war that the groundwork was laid for a customs and economic union with the founding of Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg).
In 1949, the idea of a European Community began to take shape thanks to the work of a few great men like the Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak and the Frenchmen Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet.

In 1951, Benelux, France, Germany and Italy created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). This was followed in 1952 by the creation of the European Defence Community. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome established the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the European Economic Community (EEC). Then in 1965, the Treaty of Brussels enshrined the principle of a single Commission and a single Council for the three Communities (ECSC, EURATOM and the EEC).

The six founding States of the European Union in 1957 (Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) were joined by Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom in 1972, Greece in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986.

In 1985, the Schengen agreements, which were signed by Benelux, France and Germany, gradually phased out border control and introduced the principle of free circulation of people. The 1986 Single European Act led to the uniformization of the European domestic market, the development of new policies (research, health, technologies, etc.) and the introduction of new operating procedures. The Treaty of Maastricht, which was signed in 1992, laid the groundwork for Economic, Monetary and Political Union.

In 1996, Austria, Finland and Sweden officially joined the Union (the "Europe of the 15"). In October 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam amended the previous treaties. It extended the employment policy and the rights of citizens, strengthened the free circulation of people and boosted Europe's credibility as a player on the international stage. The single currency, the euro, was introduced on 1 January 1999, and the new coins and notes went into circulation on 1 January 2002.