1945  Second World War ended  Europe united as the European Coal and Steel Community, the founding members of this organisation were Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, West Germany and the Netherlands.

1957  The six countries in the Coal and Steel community signed a treaty and created the European Economic community.

1973  Denmark and the United Kingdom joined these communities.

1979  The first European Parliament elections take place and the Single European Currency Unit was introduced (later to become the Euro)

1981  Greece joins EEC  The first Mediterranean enlargement

1986  Portugal and Spain join the EEC

15 June 1987  The EU launches the ‘Erasmus’ programme to fund university students wishing to study for up to a year in another European country. More than 2 million young people have benefited from this and similar EU schemes.

1989  The Berlin wall opens. East Germans can now travel to West Germany via Berlin.  Spain takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Communities.

1990  Germany is reunited

1992  The treaty on European Union is signed at Maastricht. It comes into force on 1 November 1993.

1993  The single market is created.

1995  Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU. The 15 members now cover almost the whole of western Europe.

1997  The Amsterdam treaty is signed

1999  The euro was introduced in 11 countries

2004  Eight more countries join the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.  The 25 EU countries sign a Treaty.

2007  Two more countries from eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania, now join the EU, bringing the number of member states to 27 countries.  The 27 EU countries sign the Treaty of Lisbon.