Six Decades of European Community Evolution: On March 25, 1957, the Treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic Community. From the Treaty of Rome to the migration crisis and Brexit, here is a look at 60 years of ups and downs in the making of the European Union.

Six Decades of European Community Evolution

On May 9, 1950, just five years after the end of World War II, French foreign minister Robert Schuman unveiled proposals for an economic union between France and West Germany, drawing from the ideas of political advisor and economist Jean Monnet.

A year later, six countries — Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands — establish the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On March 25, 1957, the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC, or Common Market). It takes effect a year later, establishing key European institutions: the Council of Ministers, the executive European Commission and the Parliamentary Assembly, which later becomes the European Parliament, to which the first elections by direct universal suffrage take place in 1979.

European Community Evolution Crises

Six Decades of European Community Evolution Storm clouds gather in the spring of 2005, as French voters reject a draft European Constitution proposed by the Treaty of Lisbon, followed three days later by Dutch voters.

Shocked European leaders manage to get the treaty ratified in 2009. And with provisions designed to improve the functioning of the enlarged EU institutions.

In November 2009, Athens revealed a sharp rise in its public deficit, unleashing a financial crisis across the euro zone.

First Greece, then Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Cyprus seek aid from the EU and the International Monetary Fund, which demands strict fiscal discipline in return. Several heads of government fall as austerity measures provoke a popular backlash.

Just as it begins to emerge from the financial crisis. Europe is hit by its most serious migration crisis since the end of World War II, and EU leaders fail to work out a joint action plan.

On September 13, Germany, which had until then had been welcoming refugees, restores border controls, a move quickly followed by Austria, Slovakia, and other countries.

The latest crisis came on June 23, 2016, when Britons voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent in favor of quitting the EU, putting the United Kingdom on course to become the first country to quit the bloc.

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