The Treaties and the European Constitution

The construction of Europe over the last fifty years has been marked by a series of treaties that have made it possible to lay the foundations of the European Union as we know it today. The European Constitution represents a decisive act providing coherence to the European Union as a whole and establishing new objectives. A new era  is unfolding before us. The following chapter provides the chronology of all of the treaties prior to the Constitution of 2004.

 2004 The European Constitution
The democratic foundation of a reunited Europe. The European Constitution achieves a dual objective: the strengthening of the efficiency of the European institutions and the uniting of Europe and its citizens. In addition, it offers new perspectives, especially in regards to the confirmation of a true European identity in the international arena.

The  text :
The Constitution’s fundamental provisions
Charter of Fundamental Rights
The Union’s policies
The final clauses
Protocols and Annexes I and II
Declarations

2002  2003  The Convention on the future of Europe
A unique forum that met between February 2002 and July 2003 uniting more than 100 representatives from the Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament as well as the national parliaments. Its goal was to resolve the dilemmas left pending by the Nice Treaty and by the problems presented by an enlarged Europe, especially the competence and the democratization of the Union.
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2000  The Nice Treaty
This treaty aimed to adapt the functions  of the European Institutions and the decision-making mechanisms to accommodate an enlarged Europe.
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1997 The Amsterdam Treaty
This treaty established the strengthened co-operation agreements  among the States that wanted to forge ahead. It strengthened the European Parliament's decision power alongside the Council of Ministers and enabled the latter to utilize majority voting in a wider range of domains.
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1992 The Maastricht Treaty
This treaty founded the European Union and created two new areas of co-operation: the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and justice and internal affairs (JIA). It launched the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) with the euro as a legal currency in 1999. Finally, it founded European citizenship.
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1986 The Single Act
This treaty established the Single Market on January 1th, 1993, providing new dynamism to the construction of Europe. It established the free movement of people, merchandise, services and capital across the entire European Union.
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1957 The Rome Treaties
The six founding countries signed two treaties in Rome creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Community for Atomic Energy (Euratom).
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