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Building on the success of the Coal and Steel Treaty, the 6 founding countries expand their cooperation to other economic sectors. They formalise this by signing two treaties, creating the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). These bodies come into being on 1 January 1958. -
On May 28, 1979, the Treaty of Accession of Greece to the European Communities was signed at Zappeio Megaro.
Greece officially joined the European Communities on January 1, 1981, becoming the tenth member of the Common Market.
The head of the Greek delegation was the Greek Prime Minister Mr. Konstantinos G. Karamanlis. -
The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty—whose main architects were Horst Köhler, Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand—came into force on 1 November 1993. The treaty also gave the name European Community to the EEC, even if it was referred to as such before the treaty. -
The euro is established in 11 countries only for commercial and financial transactions. Euro notes and coins will be released later. The first eurozone countries are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal and Finland. Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom decide to stay, temporarily, outside the eurozone.