EU Rise/Influence

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) established

1951

ECSC supranational body

High Authority, headed by Frenchman Jean Monnet

Common Assembly quote (1952)

"the establishment of the first supranational institutions of Europe"

European Economic Community (EEC) established

1958

Jacques Delors as President of the EEC

1985–1994

Single European Act introduced

1987

Maastricht Treaty signed

February 1992 (came into effect 1 November 1993)

Maastricht Treaty single currency plan

Euro among 11 member states

De Gaulle veto of British EEC membership

1963

De Gaulle withdrawal from the EEC

7 months in 1965

Members joining in 1995

Austria, Finland and Sweden (total to 15)

Eastern European states joining in 2004

10 states

Amsterdam Treaty

1997

European Central Bank (ECB) established

1998

Euro replaced internal currencies

1 January 2002, 12 of 15 member states

Countries opting out of the euro

Britain, Sweden and Denmark

Eurozone crisis stimulus plan

$200 billion in December 2008

Greece bailout package

$110 billion in May 2010

Permanent bailout fund

$500 billion in February 2011

EU population

500 million citizens (third most populous after China and India)

EU GDP

Approximately US $25 trillion per year (largest in the world)

EU exports as a single entity

US $2.13 trillion — 14.9% of world total (top exporter)

Failed draft constitution

2004

German leader criticising Greece bailout

Angela Merkel, May 2010

Greek anti-austerity movement

Indignant Citizens Movement, 2011

Nationalist parties

National Front (France), Party for Freedom (Netherlands), Austrian Freedom Party