Читать книгу European Integration - Mark Gilbert - Страница 14

January 15, 2000: Accession negotiations begin with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, and Slovakia. IGC on institutional amendments to EU treaty begin in February.

May 12, 2000: Joschka Fischer, German foreign minister, argues in Berlin for a federal European state or else the possibility of a group of states pressing ahead to more advanced forms of integration.

September 28, 2000: Danes vote against joining euro.

December 7–10, 2000: Nice European Council makes further cosmetic changes to the EU’s institutional structures and welcomes the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights without incorporating it into the treaty.

February 26, 2001: Treaty of Nice signed in Brussels.

June 7, 2001: Irish voters reject the Treaty of Nice. They later approve it in a second referendum on October 19, 2002.

September 11, 2001: Destruction of World Trade Center. EU begins work on a draft of antiterrorism measures and proposes the introduction of a “European arrest warrant” to eliminate lengthy extradition procedures.

December 14–15, 2001: Laeken European Council institutes a “Convention,” chaired by a former French president, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, on the EU’s institutional and political future.

January 1, 2002: Euro notes and coins begin to circulate throughout most of the Union.

February 28, 2002: The Convention begins work.

December 12–13, 2002: Copenhagen European Council recommends entry of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus in 2004.

April 16, 2003: Accession treaties signed with Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia in Athens.

July 18, 2003: Convention on the Future of Europe presents the Draft Constitutional Treaty.

October 4, 2003: Constitutional Treaty IGC begins.

May 1, 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the EU. The EU’s membership is now twenty-five.

June 10–13, 2004: European Parliament elections are held.

June 18, 2004: IGC ends with an agreement on Constitutional Treaty.

July 22, 2004: The European Parliament approves the appointment of Jose Manuel Barroso (Portugal) as the Commission’s new president.

October 29, 2004: The EU member states sign the treaty establishing a Constitution of Europe in Rome.

April 25, 2005: Accession treaties signed with Bulgaria and Romania in Luxembourg. Actual accessions are scheduled to take place in 2007.

May 29, 2005: French “no” to the Constitutional Treaty.

June 1, 2005: Dutch “no” to the Constitutional Treaty. European Council begins a “period of reflection” on European Constitution.

October 3, 2005: Accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia begin.

January 1, 2007: The accession of Bulgaria and Romania completes the fifth enlargement of the EU.

July 23, 2007: Member states’ representatives meet in Brussels for an IGC on a draft reform treaty to amend the EU treaties.

December 13, 2007: The Treaty of Lisbon is signed at Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, in Lisbon.

December 21, 2007: The Schengen area is enlarged to include Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

January 1, 2008: Cyprus and Malta adopt the Euro.

June 12, 2008: Ireland rejects the Treaty of Lisbon in a referendum.

September 1, 2008: The EU leaders meet at a summit to discuss the fighting in Georgia and condemn Russia’s “disproportionate reaction.”

December 12, 2008: The European Council adopts the Economic Recovery Plan.

January 1, 2009: Slovakia adopts the euro.

June 4–7, 2009: European Parliament elections are held.

July 23, 2009: Iceland applies for EU membership.

September 16, 2009: The European Parliament approves the nomination of Jose Manuel Barroso for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission.

October 3, 2009: Ireland approves the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum.

November 20, 2009: The European Council appoints Herman Van Rompuy (Belgium) as the first permanent president of the EU Council. Catherine Ashton (UK) becomes High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

December 1, 2009: The Lisbon Treaty comes into effect.