PubAffairs Bruxelles has developed and carried out a set of activities developed throughout the year 2019 in order to participate in the Altiero Spinelli Prize for Outreach. One of these activities consisted in publishing a the work “(EU)r History in pictures”. If you wish to download the .pdf click on the banner below.
1st January 1958 : Entry into force of the treaties of Rome. The EEC and EURATOM Communities are established in Brussels. The Parliamentary Assembly and the Court of Justice are institutions common to the three Communities.
- 1 January 1999 : launch of the Euro in the financial markets of eleven member states : Germany, Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal.
- 1 January 1999 : launch of the Euro in the financial markets of eleven member states : Germany, Belgium, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal.
- 1 January 2001 : Greece joins the Eurozone / 1st January 2002: launch of the coins and notes for the countries in the Eurozone./ 1st January 2007 : Slovenia joins the Eurozone./ 1st January 2008: Cyprus and Malta adopt the Euro./ 1st January 2009: Slovakia adopts the Euro./ 1st January 2011: Adoption of the single currency by Estonia./ 1st January 2014: Latvia joins the Eurozone. / 1st January 2015 : Adoption of the single currency by Lithuania, which becomes the nineteenth country in the Eurozone.
30 January 1962 : birth of the common agricultural policy (CAP). It is about ensuring the self-sufficiency of food by encouraging production through a system of guaranteed prices for certain produce.

7 February 1992 : 12 member states sign the Maastricht treaty which provides for the eventual creation of a single currency, enhances the powers of the European Parliament, establishes a European citizenship and creates new areas for cooperation: Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), justice and domestic affairs.
(In the picture : Hans-Dietrich Genscher (to the left) et Theo Waigel signant le traité de Maastrich)
1st February 2003 : entry into force of the Nice treaty.
- 8 March : International Women’s rights Day
- 10-11 March 1975: first meeting of heads of states and governments at the European Council, in Dublin, in order to set the broad guidelines of European policy. In the picture, from left to the right : Mariano Rumor (Italy) François-Xavier Ortoli, president of European Commission; Helmut Schmidt (Germany); Gaston Thorn, (Luxembourg); Joop den Uyl, (Netherlands); Knud Borge Andersen (Denmark); Liam Cosgrave (Irland); Valery Giscard d’Estaing (France) ; Harold Wilson (Great Britain) et Leo Tindemans (Belgium).
- 13 March 1979 : beginning of the functioning of the European Monetary System (EMS) to create a zone of monetary stability in Europe and avoid inflations.
- 19 March 1958 : Constitutional session of the European Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg, France. Robert Schuman is elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly, which will replace the ECSC Assembly.
- 25 March 1957 : signature of the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). (In the picture : Antonio Segni, Italian Prime Minister (to the left), and his Foreign Affairs Minister Gaetano Martino (to the right)).
- 26 March 1995 : entry into force of the Schengen Agreements on the free movement of persons and goods between seven states: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
- 1 April 2003 : signing of the accession treaty of ten new members : Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. (In the picture : José María Aznar (to the left), President of the Government of Spain et Ana de Palacio y de Valle Lersundi, Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister).
- 8 April 1965 : signature in Brussels of the merger treaty of the executives of the three communities (ECSC, EEC, EAEC). The Treaty establishes a single Council and a single Commission of the European Communities composed of nine members. (In the picture : Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister is signing on behalf of Belgium).
- 18 April 1951 : signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Paris by France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. (In the picture : Robert Schuman, French Foreign Affairs Minister).
1st May 1999 : entry into force of the Amsterdam treaty.
- 1 May 2004 : the EU now has 25 member states with the 10 new members.
- 9 May : Europe Day – Schuman Declaration
- 26 May 2019 : European elections.
- 27 May 1952 : the Six sign a treaty creating a European Defense Community (EDC), including institutions, armed forces and a common budget. (In the picture, from the left to the rigt : Konrad Adenauer, Paul Van Zeeland, Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi, Joseph Bech et Dirk Stikker).
- May : Green week
- 7-10 June 1979 : first election by direct universal suffrage in the European Parliament. (In the picture : Simone Veil)
- 14 June 1985 : signing of the Schengen Agreement on the free movement of people between France, the Benelux and the FRG. (In the picture : Paul De Keersmaeker (Belgium); Waldemar Schreckenberger (Germany); Catherine Lalumière (France); Robert Goebbels (Luxembourg); and Willem Frederik van Eekelen (Netherlands).
- June 2018 : EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW).
- June 2019 : European Development Days (EDD).
- 1st July 1968 : coming into force of the Customs Union. Intra-Community customs duties are abolished and a common external tariff is put in place.
- 1st July 2013 : After a vote in favour of its membership on 22 January 2012, Croatia becomes the twenty-eighth member state of the EU.
- 21 July : National Day
- 4-7 September 2018 : Europe Biobank week.
- 16-22 September 2018 : European Mobility Week.
- 1-31 October 2018 : European Cyber Security Month.
- 8 -11 October 2018 : European Week of Regions and Cities.
- 7 October 1958 : the European Court of Justice chairs in Luxembourg.
- 12 October 2012 : the EU is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for contributions to peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.
- 2 December 1985 : Adoption of the Single European Act, which will enter into force on 1st July 1987; it provides for the establishment of a “borderless market” for 1993, and strengthens the powers of the Commission and Parliament.
1st November 1993 : entry into force of the Maastricht treaty.
1st December 2009 : entry into force of the Lisbon treaty.
- 7-10 December 2000 : Proclamation of the European Convention on Human Rights. (In the picture, at the foreground, from the left to the right : Nicole Fontaine, President of the European Parliament, Hubert Védrine, French Foreign Minister and Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission).
- 12 December 2008 : the EU welcomes Switzerland in the Schengen area.
- 13 December 2007 : signing of the Lisbon treaty. Among the major reforms are included the reduction of European commissioners, the creation of a president for the European Council fo the EU, and the strengthening of Parliament’s powers. (In the picture, from left to right : Lech Kaczynski is signing in the presence of Fredrik Reinfeldt, Jerzy Buzek and José Manuel Barroso).
- 14 December 1996 : adoption of the Stability and Growth Pact to accompany the Economic and Monetary Union.
- 15-16 December 1995 : the European Council adopts the name of the future single currency and specifies how to change to the Euro. (In the picture, from the left to the right : Hans van den Broek, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy; Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission; Felipe González, Spanish Prime Minister et Javier Solana, Spanish foreign Minister).
- 21 December 2007 : the free movement of people in the Schengen area goes from 15 to 24 countries. It now includes Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta, that join 13 states already members.