Time line By: Shirley Lin

The story ofEuropean

Union1945 195

11957

1973

19811986

1992

19952004

2007

1945The second world war ended in 1945.

1951The ECSC was set up in 1951.

1957

The EEC was set up in 1957.

1973

The UK, Denmark and Ireland joined in 1973 .

1981The Greece joined in 1981.

1986The Portugal and Spain joined in 1986.

1992It had finished building the ‘single market’.

They change its name to the ‘EU’ in 1992.

1995The Austria, Finland and Sweden joined in 1995.

2004

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta joined the EU on 1 may 2004.

2007

On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the group.