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The politico-legal entity formed by the Treaty of Maastricht 1992, which extended the existing European Communities into a new 'three pillar' structure. The first pillar encompasses the former European Communities, now renamed the 'European Community'. The EC includes, and is dominated by, the European Economic Community (EEC. The second pillar is a set of agreements on establishing a common foreign and defence policy. The third pillar is the set of agreements on establishing common police and judicial cooperation procedures. From a strictly legal perspective, the first pillar is the most important, as it is the treaties encompassed by this pillar that give the EU its power to legislate and enforce EU law over member states. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) only has jurisdiction over matters in the first pillar.

Timeline

Signed In force Document

1948 1948 Brussels Treaty

1951 1952 Paris Treaty

1954 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty

1957 1958 Rome Treaties

1965 1967 Merger Treaty

1975 N/A European Council conclusion

1985 1985 Schengen Treaty

1986 1987 Single European Act

1992 1993 Maastricht Treaty

1997 1999 Amsterdam Treaty

2001 2003 Nice Treaty

2007 2009 Lisbon Treaty

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Three pillars of the European Union:

European Communities:

European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

Treaty expired in 2002

European Union (EU)

European Economic Community (EEC)

Schengen Rules

European Community (EC)

TREVI

Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)

Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC)

European Political Cooperation (EPC)

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

Unconsolidated bodies

Western European Union (WEU)

Treaty terminated in 2010

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Member States

Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom