European Integration. Mark Gilbert
March 16, 1979: Death of Jean Monnet.
June 7–10, 1979: First direct elections to the European Parliament.
November 29–30, 1979: British budgetary question explodes at Dublin European Council.
1980s
January 1, 1981: Greece becomes tenth member state of the EC.
January 6, 1981: Gaston Thorn (Luxembourg) becomes seventh president of the EC Commission.
May 10, 1981: François Mitterrand becomes president of France.
October 4, 1981: French franc devalued within the EMS. Further adjustments follow in February and June 1982 and March 1983.
November 19, 1981: Italian foreign minister Emilio Colombo and his German counterpart, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, explain their proposals for a European Act to the European Parliament.
June 17–19, 1983: Stuttgart European Council ends the Genscher–Colombo process by signing the “Solemn Declaration” on European Union.
February 14, 1984: The European Parliament adopts a proposal for a treaty on European Union.
June 14–17, 1984: Second elections to the European Parliament.
June 25–26, 1984: Fontainebleau European Council. British budgetary problem resolved amid euphoria. Dooge Committee on institutional reform launched.
January 7, 1985: Jacques Delors (France) becomes eighth president of the EC Commission.
June 12, 1985: Portugal and Spain sign their accession treaties. They enter the Community on January 1, 1986.
June 14, 1985 : The Commission submits its white paper, Completing the Internal Market.
June 28–29, 1985: Milan European Council calls an intergovernmental conference to decide amendments to the EEC treaty.
February 17 and 28, 1986: Single European Act (SEA) signed in Brussels.
May 23, 1986: Death of Altiero Spinelli.
May 29, 1986: The flag of the European Community (twelve gold stars arranged in a circle on a light blue background) is flown for the first time.
February 18, 1987: “Delors Package” proposing big increases in regional development funding presented to European Parliament.
July 1, 1987: SEA becomes law after all twelve member states complete ratification.
June 27–28, 1988: Hanover European Council renews Delors’s presidency of the Commission.
September 20, 1988: Bruges speech: Margaret Thatcher warns of a European “super-state.”
October 24, 1988: Court of First Instance instituted.
April 12, 1989: Presentation of the Delors Report.
June 15–18, 1989: Third elections to the European Parliament.
November 10, 1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall.
December 8–9, 1989: Strasbourg European Council launches IGC on monetary union and decides to set up the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to provide loans for the countries of Eastern Europe.
1990s
April 28, 1990: Dublin European Council welcomes German reunification. A second Dublin summit on June 25–26 decides to call a parallel IGC on political union and fixes the date that the two IGCs will begin.
June 19, 1990: Schengen Treaty signed.
October 3, 1990: Reunification of Germany.
October 27–28, 1990: Rome I European Council reveals a deep breach between Britain and the rest of the EU.
December 14–15, 1990: Rome II summit launches the two IGCs.
April 14, 1991: The EBRD starts work.
September 7, 1991: The Hague peace conference on Yugoslavia begins.
December 9–10, 1991: Maastricht European Council negotiates the Treaty on European Union. Treaty is signed on February 7, 1992.
June 2, 1992: Danes vote against the Maastricht Treaty.
September 20, 1992: French narrowly approve the Maastricht Treaty. Vote is preceded by chaos on the financial markets and the elimination of the pound sterling and the lira from the EMS.
December 11–12, 1992: Edinburgh European Council allows Denmark various opt-outs from the EU treaty and gives it a second chance to hold a referendum. “Delors II” regional development package is approved.
May 18, 1993: Danes vote “yes” to Maastricht.
June 21–22, 1993: Copenhagen European Council lays down general principles of entry for would-be members of the EU.
July 28–29, 1993: Final collapse of EMS after speculative attacks on the French franc.
November 1, 1993: Treaty on European Union becomes law.
December 15, 1993: Uruguay Round ends with major accord on liberalization of trade and agreement to establish the World Trade Organization (WTO).
March 30, 1994: Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden conclude negotiations for membership. Norway rejects the treaty of accession on November 28; the others ratify and join the EU on January 1, 1995. Membership is now fifteen.
June 9–12, 1994: Fourth elections to the European Parliament.
June 24–25, 1994: Corfu European Council dominated by wrangling over the successor to Jacques Delors. On July 15, Jacques Santer (Luxembourg) is chosen at a special European Council meeting in Brussels.
January 18,1995: Santer is approved as ninth president of the European Commission by the European Parliament.
March 26, 1995: Passport-free zone between Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal.
July 26, 1995: Europol Convention signed. Begins work in October 1998.
December 15–16, 1995: Madrid European Council decides the name of the single currency: the euro will enter into operation on January 1, 1999,and will be available in note form from January 1, 2002.
March 29, 1996: IGC on institutional reform begins.
December 13–14, 1996: Stability and Growth Pact agreed by Dublin European Council.
June 16–17, 1997: Amsterdam European Council concludes IGC on institutional reform with a set of amendments, but no great structural alterations, to the Treaty on European Union.
July 16, 1997: The Commission presents Agenda 2000, its opinion on the accession of the ten new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe.
October 2, 1997: Treaty of Amsterdam signed.
March 25, 1998: The Commission gives a passing grade to eleven states for membership of the euro. Britain and Denmark opt out. European Council confirms decision