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The European Parliament - a Chronology

June 11, 2004

Twenty-five years ago, the first direct elections to the European Parliament took place throughout the then nine member states on June 7-10, 1979. DW-WORLD takes a look at key dates in the parliament's history.

https://p.dw.com/p/5AlX
Europeans from 25 countries vote in EU members of parliamentImage: dpa
  • 1951: The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) is set up with six members: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.
  • 1952: Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium is appointed president of the ECSC's Common Assembly.
  • 1957: The Treaties of Rome establish the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
  • 1958: The Parliamentary Assembly, common to all three communities, is established to replace the Common Assembly. Robert Schuman, who as French foreign minister first proposed integrating Western Europe's coal and steel industries, is elected president in Strasbourg during the founding session. Members of the assembly first sit together in political groups rather than according to nationality.
  • 1962: The Parliamentary Assembly changes its name to the European Parliament (EP).
  • 1973: The EEC is abridged to European Community (EC). The European Council -- meetings of the heads of state and government of the EU member states -- adopts measures to improve its relations with the EP. They include increased participation by the council in the work of the EP in concluding trade agreements as well as an improved consultation procedures with the EP.
    Denmark, Ireland and the UK join the EC.
  • 1979: The first direct elections to the EP take place.
  • 1981: Greece joins the EC.
  • 1986: Portugal and Spain join the EC.
  • 1993: The Treaty of Maastricht comes into force. It transforms the EC into a political union and replaces its name with "European Union." The treaty expands the EP's authorities, allowing it to veto and propose amendments to bills put forth by the European Commission, the EU's executive. The treaty also gives EU nationals living in member states other than their home countries the right to vote or stand for election where they reside.
  • 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EC.
  • 1999: The Treaty of Amsterdam comes into force, giving the EP legislative powers equal to those of the European Council.
  • 2003: The Treaty of Nice comes into force. It enhances parliament's role as co-legislator and grants the EP the right to bring actions before the EU Court of Justice under the same conditions as the other institutions.
    In anticipation of the European enlargement from 15 to 25 member states, the treaty reallocates the distribution of EP seats between the then member states and the candidate countries and limits the number of EP members to 732.
  • May 1, 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia join the EU.
  • June 10-13, 2004: European Parliament elections take place in all 25 member states.
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