History of the European Union (1993–2004)

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Organisation Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (2003–2009) Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar (1993–2009) Western European Union (1954–2011) Western Union (1948–1954)
Treaties Treaty of Paris 1951 Treaty of Rome 1957 Merger Treaty 1965 Single European Act 1986 Maastricht Treaty 1992 Treaty of Amsterdam 1997 Treaty of Nice 2001 Treaty of Lisbon 2007
Commissions Hallstein Commission 1958 Rey Commission 1967 Malfatti Commission 1970 Mansholt Commission 1972 Ortoli Commission 1973 Jenkins Commission 1977 Thorn Commission 1981 Delors Commission 1985 Santer Commission 1994 Prodi Commission 1999 Barroso Commission 2004 Juncker Commission 2014 Von der Leyen Commission 2019
Topics History of Europe History of the euro History of defence integration History of enlargement List of presidents List of founders
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The history of the European Union between 1993 and 2004 was the period between its creation (replacing the

Following the delays in the ratification of the

Due to concerns over the proposal of

On 9 to 12 June 1994, the

Free movement

On 1 January 1994 the

The

Amsterdam Treaty

The intergovernmental conference leading to the Treaty of Amsterdam opened on 29 March 1996 in Turin. On 22 July 1997, leaders of the Western European Union met and adopted a declaration, to be added to the treaty, defining its role with the EU and NATO. The Treaty was signed by foreign ministers on 2 October. The treaty entered into force on 1 May 1999.

The treaty sought to create an "area of freedom, justice and security" as well as strengthen the CFSP. There would also be institutional reforms to make the Union more democratic and adjust it to enlargement.^[5]

Amsterdam also incorporated the conclusions of the 1992 Edinburgh

Towards the end of 1998 a crisis developed around the

The committee produced its report on 15 March 1999 and was presented to the Commission and Parliament. It largely cleared most members, aside from Cresson, but concluded that there was growing reluctance of the Commissioners to acknowledge responsibility and that "It was becoming increasingly difficult to find anyone who had the slightest sense of responsibility." In response to the report, PES withdrew their support from the Commission leading to a collapse of support for the commission. Santer announced on evening of the reports publication that the entire Commission had resigned.[9] Édith Cresson went before the European Court of Justice and, in July 2006, was found guilty but was not stripped of her pension.^[11] Cresson today is largely held accountable for the fall of Santer, who went on to serve time as an MEP and never fully recovered, and the rest of his Commission.^[12]

The immediate effect on the commission was that it became politically weakened and unable to react to the beginning of the

The Commission itself suffered from a loss of trust and reputation, only compounded by the post-Delors mood. Prodi had to deal with increased euroscepticism which helped bring down the Santer Commission. Since the end of the Delors era, pro-integrationism had given way with greater concern about the commission's powers. By just 2000 the Council curbed the commission's powers once more when they believed Prodi overstepped his remit.[13] Meanwhile, Parliament gained the publicity it sought and by exercising its power the council was forced to take increased heed of its views in the appointment of the next Commission.^[10] It also showed a Parliament operating with a greater government-opposition dynamic of the two main parties than before.^[9] In the following 1999 parliamentary elections turnout did not increase as hoped, but the People's Party did defeat the Socialists, for the first time since elections began, becoming the largest party in Parliament.

President Prodi

On 1 May 1999,

On 10–13 June 1999 the

On 1 January 1994, the second stage of the EMU began under the Maastricht Treaty with the establishment of the European Monetary Institute. On 16 December 1995, the date for the introduction of the euro was set as 1 January 1999.

On 14 October 1996 the

2000 saw the Commission recommending Greece joining the eurozone, which it did at the start of 2001. However, both Denmark and Sweden rejected the currency in referendums held on 28 September 2000 and 14 September 2003, respectively. On 1 January 2002, the physical euro currency came into circulation in the 12 eurozone states, and became the sole legal currency of 12 eurozone states (Greece included) on 28 February.

Enlargement

Membership until 1995

1995–2004 EU enlargements

  existing members

  new members in 1995

Austria
Finland
Sweden

  existing members

  new members in 2004

Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia

On 30 March 1994, accession negotiations concluded with Austria, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Sweden and Finland had applied since the fall of the Iron Curtain; allowing them, as Cold War-neutral countries, to now align themselves with the Union. Their accession treaties were signed on 25 June of that month. Each country held referendums on entry resulting on entry for all except Norway (its second failed referendum);

• Austria – 66.6% in favour (12 June); application submitted in July 1989
• Finland – 56.9% in favour (16 October); application submitted in March 1992 (separate referendum held in Åland)
• Sweden – 52.8% in favour (13 November); application submitted in July 1991
• Norway – 47.8% in favour (28 November); application submitted in December 1992

Austria, Finland and Sweden became EU members on 1 January 1995. Sweden held their elections to the parliament later that year on 17 September. The following year, Austria held its elections on 13 October and Finland on 20 October.

Since the 1990s, numerous states were moving towards membership. Following on from 1995, and aside from the aspirations of Turkey, there were 12 countries advanced on the path to membership. These were: the two Mediterranean countries of Cyprus and Malta; the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia; and 9 former eastern bloc countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

It was hoped that

Finally, on 1 May 2004, the Union expanded from 15 to 25 members, the largest single expansion in its history. Its population jumped from 381 million to 456 million and its size grew from 3367 to 4104 thousand km² (See Enlargement Statistics). The 10 countries also brought with them 162 MEPs and 10 Commissioners, who joined the Prodi Commission on 1 May.^[18]

References