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A bloody beginning
Ireland was a neutral republic during the Second World War.
War time shortages meant everything was rationed - sugar, sweets, flour, butter, tea, meat, soap, furniture, clothes, hosiery, and shoes. In the Republic, the weekly allowance was: 14 grams of tea [1] and 56grams each of butter [2], sugar and cheese. In Britain, milk was rationed too.
This was the harsh reality of war on this island, and yet the Republic of Ireland got off lightly. On the continent, entire cities were razed to the ground with the intensity of the bombing on civilian targets by both sides. And when the war was over, the Nazi concentration camps were discovered, where at least 6 million people had been killed with poisonous gas, subjected to medical experiments or forced labour, allowed to die through starvation and burnt in oven furnaces. These were the Holocaust death camps for the extermination of the Jews, Poles, Slavs, gypsies, disabled and anyone voicing opposition to the Nazi regime.
After six years of attack and counter-attack, European countries were a shell of their former selves. Europe was left either dead or destroyed, a walking wounded. Almost all the countries of Europe were involved in this, the most extensive and expensive armed conflict in the history of the world - France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Austria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Albania, Greece, Crete, Malta, the Caucasus, Romania, Bulgaria and Britain were either invaded and occupied by Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union (who switched sides in 1941) or were under threat of an intention to do so.
To put this in modern day context, the war involved 21 of the current 27 members of the European Union. In 1945, shell shocked European leaders put down their weapons and vowed to prevent such horrors from ever happening again.
A French economist called Jean Monnet proposed that nations enlist the resources of armed conflict - coal and steel - to create a lasting peace between them. His suggestion was promoted by the French foreign minister Robert Schuman, and presented on 9 May 1950 or "Europe Day" as it is now known. Six countries were in favour, and agreed to co-found the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the precursor of the European Union. The Treaty of Paris setting up the ECSC was signed in 1951 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the West part of Germany.
And so Europe got back on its feet, reconstructing lives and livelihoods with the help of billions of dollars of American "Marshall" aid and by stimulating capitalism using the Bretton Woods system. Work on maintaining peaceful relations between the states of Europe began in earnest.
But post-war agreements between the Western Allied troops and the Soviet troops meant that Europe would be split in half, with at least 35 years of Cold War between the democratic governments bedding down in Western Europe and the communist states establishing in the East of Europe. To combat the western defence club of NATO founded in 1949 (involving the USA, UK and most of western Europe), all the communist states of Eastern Europe with the exception of Yugoslavia signed up to their mutual defence equivalent, the Warsaw Pact (involving East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Soviet Union including the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Both alliances (NATO and the Warsaw Pact) were designed to provide collective self-defence against an external aggressor, although they never engaged in combat against each other. In reality, the Warsaw Pact made sure that the Soviet Union could keep a tight rein on the communist countries within their sphere of influence, and intervene with force if there was any straying from the communist doctrine.
By 2004, former Warsaw Pact members had tossed off their communist chains, and embraced western democracy and capitalism. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO in 1999 and Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia followed suit in March 2004. These ten new NATO members are now also members of the EU.
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Development of the European Union
Economic development
The ECSC had seen some positive results - industrial production in general had increased, and steel production in particular had flourished.
Buoyed by these early successes, the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) decided to establish a single market between themselves, to be known as the European Economic Community (EEC). The EEC was to be a trade body overseeing a customs union with internal freedom of movement of the elements of production.
A customs union is a free trade zone with a common external tariff (or tax). All goods coming into the European trade area of the six EEC countries would be subject to the same customs duties (i.e. taxes imposed on imported or exported goods), quotas (i.e. limits on quantities of imports or exports) or other agreed trade barriers. Meanwhile revenues raised from tariffs on goods coming into the customs union would be shared between the trade zone's participating countries. Internal customs duties between the six countries were eliminated completely by 1968.
Within the EEC zone, trade was to be based on four freedoms: (1) freedom of goods, (2) freedom of services, (3) freedom of capital and (4) freedom of people. The common (or single) market would stimulate the production of goods coming from the EEC countries, and by trading with each other according to common policies on external taxes it would also help establish closer cultural and political ties. By acting together to promote economic activity, it would work to increase the prosperity of all the people of those European states.
The EEC single market was established by the signing of the Treaty of Rome on 25th March 1957 by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. On the same day, the six also signed a treaty establishing Euratom, the European Atomic Energy Community. Euratom was designed to pool the non-military nuclear resources of the members. Both Treaties came into force on 1st January 1958.
Thus far, the six countries had together formed the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom. The Merger Treaty of 1967 merged the three into a single set of institutions called the European Communities (plural). Of the three European Communities, the EEC became dominant. In 1992, the word "Economic" was removed from its title (by the Maastricht Treaty), as it acquired responsibilities for more non-economic policy areas. It was subsequently known as the European Community. The ECSC ceased to exist in 2002 when the longevity of the Treaty of Paris ran out - it had been established for a shelf life of 50 years. Its remit was transferred to the European Community, formerly the EEC. By 2007 the treaty founding Euratom will also expire.
Monetary Union
After the single market, the single currency. Within five years, the Euro has become the world's second most important currency, after the US dollar. How did this happen? The idea was first raised in 1970 by Prime Minister Werner of Luxembourg who suggested that the EEC-6 should converge their economies and currencies.
The EMS (European Monetary System) was introduced in 1979. It was intended to reduce the degree of fluctuations in exchange rates between currencies of the member states -the French franc, the German deutschmark, the Italian lira and so on. Only margins of between 2.25 and 6% were allowed. The need for stability of currencies is central to the success of a single market - the free movement of capital, people and goods is hampered if currencies can be devalued from one day to the next leading to unfair advantage and trade distortions.
In the Single European Act of 1986, countries vowed to complete all the necessary operations for a true single market by 1993.
The Delors Plan followed in 1989. His ambition for economic and monetary union by the turn of the century (1999) was enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. It required member states to be fiscally prudent - no massive inflation, no enormous budget deficits, no extravagant borrowing, no devaluing of national currency. Members were under obligation to meet the EMU criteria before they could adopt the euro. Denmark and the UK negotiated an "opt-out" Protocol to the EU Treaty, granting them the option of joining the euro area or not. If they decide to do so, both countries have nevertheless to fulfil the convergence criteria set out in the Maastricht Treaty. Essentially, countries had to be seen to:
- Reduce inflation (because it raises costs for consumers and businesses, making the economy less competitive, and leaves people with a diminished sense of value for money). Ireland's inflation is currently 3% which is a concern for the government.
- Cut interest rates
- Keep budget deficits to a max of 3% of GDP
- Keep the levels of borrowing low, up to a max of 60% of GDP
- Keep the currency's exchange rate stable
1997's Stability and Growth Pact saw the member states vow to keep an eye on each other to make sure no-one was running up excessive debts. Sanctions were imposed for failure to control deficits. Members also aimed to make economic growth and employment a European priority.
The single currency (the Euro) was introduced simultaneously in 11 countries on 1st January 2002 in a smooth transition. The euro is now the currency of sixteen European Union countries, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Artic Circle (namely Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Finland).
Waves of Enlargement
Since the original six in 1957, many countries have seen the economic benefits of peace and political stability and have been keen to join for both business and democratic reasons.
Britain unsuccessfully applied twice to join the EU (in 1961 and again in 1967), but its application was vetoed on both occasions by French President Charles de Gaulle. It was finally accepted once De Gaulle had been replaced by President Pompidou. Ireland also applied for membership. Ireland's referendum in 1972 showed over 83% in favour of membership, and it joined the EU in the first wave of enlargement the following year along with the UK and Denmark.
In the 1980s, three countries that had been run under dictatorship were forced to become democracies before joining the EU - Greece (in 1981) followed by Spain and Portugal (both in 1986).
The period of 1989-1990 saw enormous political change in the East. Once Gorbachov had come into power in the Soviet Union in 1985, he initiated a series of reforms called glasnost ("openness"), perestroika ("restructuring") and uskorenie ("acceleration" of economic development). Influenced by his own foreign travels abroad, Gorbachev lifted some of the extreme repressive rules enforced on the people in the name of Marxism - namely, he allowed freedom of speech amongst citizens and criticism of government in the press; he permitted the practice of religious faith; censorship was relaxed; laws were introduced allowing private ownership of businesses; and he sought peaceful relations with the West and with President Reagan in particular to reduce the build up of nuclear weapons.
In 1989, Gorbachev also loosened Soviet control on the communist regimes in the Warsaw Pact countries, allowing them to determine their own internal affairs without fear of a brutal Soviet military crackdown. This started off the landslide of change between 1989-1991 in the eastern soviet bloc countries which saw them defect from Marxist ideology as independent states seeking democracy. In 1989, communist governments were overthrown with domino effect by the peoples of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and others. Once defected from the Soviet Union, they joined NATO and applied to join the EU.
East Germany automatically joined the European Union in 1990 once it was reunited with West Germany, although this was not an 'official' enlargement. 1995 saw Austria, Finland and Sweden become members. Norwegians chose to stay out for the second time when the issue was put to a repeat referendum.
Once it became evident that former Eastern bloc countries were queuing up to join the EU, it began to discuss how to streamline the workings of the union to incorporate a larger membership. The Treaty of Nice (2001) aimed to adapt the EU's decision making process so that an EU of 20 plus members could continue to work efficiently. In many policy fields, qualified majority voting would replace unanimous decisions.
The most ambitious single enlargement was that of 2004 when ten countries joined the EU. These were the former Soviet bloc countries Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic; the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia which had been annexed to the Soviet Union; Slovenia, one of the republics of the former communist Yugoslavia as well as the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta. A further two former communist countries, Bulgaria and Romania, joined the Union on 1 January 2007. Three further countries (Turkey, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) are currently preparing for EU Membership and a number of other countries in the Western Balkans are potential candidates for membership.
Part of the reason for the EU's expansion to the East is a desire to cement economic and political stability in these regions so close to the EU's borders and prevent them falling back again into communism or dictatorship. It is hoped that eventually including those states which are currently unstable (e.g. Serbia and Montenegro) will help to end regional conflicts such as the wars in the Balkans.
Following the 2004 enlargement orchestrated under the aegis of the Irish Presidency of the European Union, and with ceremonies held for the incoming states in Aras an Uachtarain and Farmleigh in Dublin's Phoenix Park, the EU comprised 25 member states. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania on 1 January 2007 brought this number to 27 and the total population of the EU to 492 million citizens. If it were a country, it would have the third largest population in the world after China and India.
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Institutions
The main European Union institutions are the European Commission ("the Commission"), the European Parliament ("the Parliament") and the Council of the European Union ("the Council"). They are all principally based in Brussels, Belgium although the Parliament regularly moves to Strasbourg in France for week long plenary sessions. The European Council meets in Brussels about four times a year at high-profile summits attended by the prime ministers, presidents and Taoiseach's in government to discuss the "bigger picture".
"The Commission" refers to several things at once- the institution itself, the 27 members or "commissioners" nominated by their national governments to run the institution and take key decisions, and the civil service which provide administrative support to the Commissioners in a range of Directorate-Generals (aka departments). Each member state can nominate one commissioner - Ireland's nominee is Charlie McCreevy, with responsibility for Services and the Internal Market. The President of the current College of Commissioners is Portuguese José Manuel Barroso, and their appointments will last until 2009. The Commission is the only body that can propose new legislation. It's the Commission's job to make sure EU policies are implemented and respected by member states and if they're not, the Commission refers them to the European Court of Justice.
The European Parliament represents the citizens of Europe and defends their rights. Of the 785 MEPs in the current parliament, 13 are Irish. All MEPs are voted for in elections that take place simultaneously across Europe every five years. The Parliament's job is to scrutinise legislation proposed by the Commission, suggest amendments or propose additions. Although its role is primarily consultative, in some areas it is on equal parity with the Council as a co-legislator. It can also summon commissioners for questioning on commission policy or on matters of public concern. The MEPs are full time members of one committee and substitute members of at least another one or two. There are twenty committees of the Parliament, dealing with all policy areas of the EU - from agriculture to employment to security to culture. The parliament's ace card is the power to withhold approval on the commission budget or to sack the entire college of commissioners if it disagrees with the choice of candidates. These powers are mostly held in reserve.
The Council of the European Union represents the 27 member state governments. For the moment, each country takes turns at holding the presidency of the Council, and chairing all the meetings for six months. Ireland last held the presidency in 2004. At Council meetings, ministers with responsibility for whatever portfolio under discussion meet and discuss the agenda. Each country has a Permanent Representation of [their country] to the EU, stationed in Brussels and headed up by an ambassador. The preparatory work for the council meetings is done by Coreper, the Committee of Permanent Representatives which is made up of national ambassadors posted in Brussels, assisted by the relevant government department back home. The whole of the Council's work is planned and co-ordinated by the GAERC (General Affairs and External Relations Council). The council's work revolves around negotiating on proposed legislation, and finding common ground with the Parliament before a new policy can be instigated. It concludes international agreements, discusses amendments to treaties, and talks with new members who wish to join the Union. On all these fronts, the Council ministers must agree either by a qualified majority, or in some cases with unanimity.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the highest court of the European Union. It sits in Luxembourg, along with the Court of First Instance, which is the first port of call for legal remedy for most cases. The ECJ adjudicates on matters of adherence to EU law and treaty obligations. For example, the European Commission can take Ireland to the ECJ court if it has breached an EU directive, or Ireland can take the European Commission to the ECJ court if it believes it has stepped over the line. The ECJ also from time to time gives clarity on the interpretation of aspects of EC law for the benefit of national courts. Each member state nominates a judge, Ireland's current nominee being Aindrias O Caoimh.
The Court of Auditors checks that the EU's revenue has been received and is being spent correctly and properly. It has the right to audit any organisation that is handling EU funds. Marie Geoghegan-Quinn is the current member of the Court of Auditors nominated by the Irish Government.
Monetary policy for the eurozone countries is set by the European Central Bank (ECB) based in Frankfurt. Its job is to keep inflation low in the eurozone - no more than 2%. It does this by cutting or raising interest rates and so the value of the euro is maintained. The ECB is politically independent from national governments, yet is held accountable by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The European Parliament is involved in approving members of the ECB executive board and requires the ECB president to present its annual report to the Parliament.
There's also the European Investment Bank, seated in Luxembourg which raises capital on the financial markets. The EU's main financing institution, it provides funds for projects to help poorer regions within the EU and for development aid to foreign countries.
Those are the main institutions, but there are a number of less well known committees whose opinions are sought during the complex process of creating legislation. These are the Committee of the Regions which advises on regional issues; the Economic and Social Committee which advises on issues arising between workers and their employees, and the Political and Security Committee which advises on foreign and security issues.
Keeping a watchful eye over all the institutions to ensure they act in a proper manner in accordance with their remits, the European Ombudsman can instigate investigations into maladministration within any of the EU's institutions and bodies.
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Three Pillars of Policy
The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 turned the European Communities (comprising the ESCS, the EEC and Euratom) as a whole into the first of 3 pillars of the EU. It is known as the Community Pillar. Two other pillars of co-operation were added - the Security, Justice and Home Affairs pillar, and the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar.
The distinction between the pillars is based on whether decisions are made using the "Community method" employing supra-national institutions (the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union) to devise regulations and directives, or whether decisions are made using the looser inter-governmental method employing non-binding declarations, recommendations, resolutions or conclusions agreed between governments.
In the first (Community) Pillar, decisions are taken by majority vote, using the Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) process. Policy areas treated in the Community Pillar include economic, social and environmental policies. Some of these are: the customs union, the single market, economic and monetary union, common agricultural and fisheries policy, consumer protection, healthcare etc. Additional areas of asylum, migration and judicial co-operation in civil matters have been added to this pillar from the 3rd pillar since the Amsterdam Treaty (1997).
The 2nd pillar is the policy domain on defence, military and security matters, including both the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy) and the ESDP (European Security and Defence Policy). Action in this area is decided by national governments through intergovernmental agreement, decisions are taken by consensus, and individual States are allowed to abstain. Areas falling under this pillar include: EU Battlegroups, development aid, peacekeeping missions, foreign policy etc.
The 3rd pillar of Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters concerns co-operation in the fight against crime, people and drugs trafficking and international terrorism. The EU states have been working together informally in the area of Justice, Security and Freedom (otherwise known as Justice and Home Affairs) since the early 1970s.
Until the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997, progress had been slow in these areas, partly because the area of justice and home affairs impinges on national sentiments of domestic law and order, national borders and territory, and issues of national citizenship. As such, nations regard it as the preserve of national sovereignty and their own business. Under the Amsterdam Treaty, migration, asylum policy, external border controls, visas and judicial co-operation in civil matters were transferred from the 3rd to the 1st pillar. These issues were now to be dealt with using the Community method rather than the inter-governmental method.
Matters such as police co-operation and judicial co-operation in criminal affairs remained under the 3rd pillar. This area remains exclusively inter-governmental, with the Council co-ordinating the actions of member state governments. Decisions at council ministerials require unanimous agreement before they can be put into effect at EU level.
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Timeline of EU Developments set in Cultural / Political Context
1940s
- 1945, World War II ends
- Cold War begins (between capitalism in West, and communism in East)
- 1948, Irish Free State breaks ties with the Commonwealth and becomes a republic
- 1948 - 1955: Informbiro in Yugoslavia. Tito, leader of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) refused to obey orders from Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin, who did not tolerate any moves by satellite states towards independence. These were usually crushed violently, but in the case of Yugoslavia, not, perhaps because it was not immediately on Soviet Union's border. Instead, the USSR and pro-Soviet states cut off diplomatic ties with Yugoslavia and expelled the CPY from the Communist Information Bureau. It was effectively isolated for departing from Marxism-Leninism orthodoxy and for moving too rapidly towards unification with its neighbours Bulgaria and Albania.
- 1949, NATO founded (involved USA, UK, most of Western Europe)
- 1949, Warsaw Pact signed, joining most Eastern Soviet Bloc countries.
- 1950, 6 members agreed to form the European Coal and Steel Community
- At the Cinema: Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Lauren Bacall, Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman
- On the Radio: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington
- Leaders of the Time: Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Hirohito (Japan), de Valera and Costello (Ireland), Stalin (Soviet Union), Churchill and Attlee (UK), Roosevelt and Truman (USA), Tito (Yugoslavia)
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1950s
- 1951, Treaty of Paris signed by six founding members established the European Coal and Steel Community. The Treaty of Paris took effect from 23.07.1952 for an initial period of 50 years. Its HQ was in Luxembourg, and its first President was Jean Monnet (1952-1955)
- 1957, 25 March: Treaties of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom)
- 1957, October 4th: the first unmanned space mission launched by the Soviet Union called Sputnik 1 (in Russian, meaning "satellite" or "fellow traveller") alarmed the USA who believed they were the technologically-superior world superpower. The Sputnik series 1-5 sent the first living passengers into orbit - dogs, mice and rats. The Soviet's success triggered the Space Race taking off between the two countries, and the creation of America's NASA in 1958 as they sought to regain the upper hand.
- 1958, 1st January: Treaties of Rome came into effect
- At the Cinema: Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne
- On the Radio: The Goons, Early rock'n'roll music, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard and the Drifters
- On TV: Television starts to replace radio in westernised industrial countries and Blue Peter children's programme first airs on 16 October 1958
- In Sport: Roger Bannister (UK athlete), Stanley Matthews (UK soccer)
- Leaders of the Time: Castro (Cuba), Stalin and Khrushchev (USSR), Tito (Yugoslavia), Churchill, Eden and Macmillan (UK), Truman and Eisenhower (US), Costello and de Valera and Lemass (Ireland)
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1960s
- 1961, August 13th, the 103 mile long Wall separating West and East Germany was erected through Berlin, designed to prevent an exodus of East German citizens escaping to West Berlin and West Germany. This was ruthlessly enforced by armed guards under orders to shoot to kill any persons attempting to defect. The Wall became an symbol of communist tyranny and oppression. Westerners were only permitted to enter East Berlin via the crossing known as Checkpoint Charlie.
- 1961, First man sent into space by USSR is Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1.
- 1963, First woman sent into space by USSR in Vostok 6 is aged 26.
- 1963, John F. Kennedy assassinated.
- 1965, First spacewalk, by USSR Alexi Leonov from the Voskhod 2.
- 1967, Merger Treaty merges ECSC, EEC and Euratom into the European Communities
- 1968, Customs Union established
- 1968, First manned Lunar Mission, by the crew of Apollo 8 (USA) on 21 December. They were the first to orbit the Moon over their 6 day flight.
- 1968, 30 years of "The Troubles" begin in Northern Ireland
- 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
- 1968, Soviet repression of a Czech uprising created more East-West Cold War tensions (Following on from a previous uprising in Hungary that was brutally suppressed in 1956 by USSR troops and caused alarm in western countries)
- 1969, Charles Manson notoriously directs his followers (The Family) to murder showbiz celebrities in California, most famously Sharon Tate, the 8 month pregnant wife of film director Roman Polanski
- 1969, Neil Armstrong walks out of the lunar module Eagle and becomes the first man to set foot on the moon. The moonwalk was watched by the largest TV audience ever for a space event, 600 million people, or one fifth of the then world's population.
- 1969, As part of the USSR-USA Space Race, the USA's Department of Defence increased spending on scientific research. A computer network project called ARPANET was developed, which became the Internet as we know it today.
- On the Radio: Both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones start recording in 1961. By 1965 the Motown label is huge, The Supremes, and the FourTops being its most popular acts. The Beatles's biggest selling album, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released in 1967. They overtake Elvis Presley, and are at the forefront of psychadelic music. The Doors, The Who and The Beach Boys also make waves. Woodstock music festival (1969) sees hippies, drugs and rock and roll cultures converge. In Ireland, Sean O'Riada and The Chieftans lead a roots revival of folk music.
- On TV: RTE Television starts transmission in 1961. First edition of Top of the Pops is presented on 1 January 1964, by DJ Jimmy Saville,
- At the Cinema: Startrek (1966), the first James Bond film (Dr. No, 1962), 2001: A Space Odyssey, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Steve McQueen, Peter Sellers.
- In Sport: Muhammad Ali (US boxing), Bobby Charlton (UK soccer), Bobby Moore (UK soccer), Pele (Brazilian soccer), Fred Trueman (UK cricket)
- Leaders of the Time: Charles de Galle (France), Khrushchev and Brezhnev (Soviet Union), Taoiseach Lemass and Lynch (Republic of Ireland), Prime Minister Macmillan and Wilson (UK), President JF Kennedy and Johnson (USA)
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1970s
- 1970, World's first Earth Day coincides with environmental movement
- 1971, the earliest microprocessor chip, the size of a thumbnail, was designed and built by Intel. It leads to a digital revolution in home computers, video games, touch tone phones, digital watches and pocket calculators
- 1972, Bloody Sunday, a key event of The Troubles when a civil rights march through the Bogside area of Derry ended in many nationalist killings by RUC police force.
- 1973, Ireland joins the European Community along with UK and Denmark
- 1973, energy crisis worldwide sparked by OPEC oil embargo results in petroleum shortages
- 1975, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is established as new policies are introduced in social, regional and environment domains
- 1975, Spanish dictator Franco dies. Spain establishes democracy.
- 1975, Microsoft founded
- 1979, first direct elections of MEP's to the European Parliament held
- 1979, European Monetary System EMS introduced designed to stabilise exchange rates between currencies, and encourage Member States to keep a tight reign on their economies
- 1979, another energy crisis
- 1979, Soviet Union invades Afghanistan
- On the Radio: The Beatles are no more following break up, and other music legends die (Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley). Punk rock and Disco takes over: ABBA, Pink Floyd, Sex Pistols, Queen, David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Grease the Musical, Serge Gainsbourg
- On TV: Dallas mini series starts (1978), M*A*S*H*, Happy Days featuring The Fonz
- At the Cinema: the start of the "blockbuster movie" phenomenon marketing movies with merchandise and the spawning of sequels e.g. Star Wars, Superman, Jaws, Rocky. Directors Franco Zefferelli, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas.
- In Sport: George Best (Northern Ireland soccer), Bjorn Borg (Sweden tennis), Jimmy Connors (USA tennis), Billie Jean King (US tennis), Gareth Edwards (Wales rugby), Niki Lauda (Austria Formula 1 Racing), Jack Nicklaus (US golf), Red Rum (racehorse), Barry Sheene (UK motorcycle racing), O J Simpson (US American football)
- Leaders of the Time: Margaret Thatcher (first female prime minister, UK), Pompidou and Giscard d'Estaing (France), President Patrick Hillery (Ireland), Taoiseach Lynch, Cosgrave, Haughey (Ireland), 3 popes in one year: Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II (Vatican City), Brezhnev (Soviet Union), President Nixon, Ford and Carter (USA)
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1980s
- 1980, Tito, President for Life of Yugoslavia, dies and this starts the rise of ethnic tensions in the Balkan republics leading to genocide and massacre a decade later
- 1980, John Lennon assassinated in New York
- 1981, Greece joins the European Community
- 1981, Solidarity movement launched in Poland. It eventually overthrows the country's Communist regime.
- 1981, AIDS virus identified and named
- 1981, assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman
- 1982, Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of UK engages in Falklands War initiated by Argentina
- 1982, Spain joins NATO
- 1983, the first ever computer virus is designed by Fred Cohen, a student of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
- 1985 - 1991, Gorbachov comes in as premier of USSR, leads societal reforms Glasnost and Perestroika and effects massive and irrevocable change to the face of Europe, leading to the unintended break up of the Soviet Union and the overthrow of Communism in central and eastern Europe
- 1985, Greenland chose to leave the European Community following a referendum once it was granted home rule by Denmark in 1979
- 1986, Single European Act signed, taking the first step towards the single European market
- 1986, Spain, Portugal (the poorest member of the EEC then) join. Concern is voiced in the media about floods of immigrants from poorer member states to richer ones. Programmes are introduced to bridge gaps between economic development in rich and poor member states.
- 1986, Single European Act signed and a timetable is set to speed up the EU single market goals
- 1986, accident at Chernobyl nuclear reactor
- 1987, Single European Act ratified and adopted: an urgency is proclaimed of the need to truly establish a common market, and remove remaining obstacles to the 4 freedoms of movement.
- 1987, Turkey applies for full membership of the Community
- 1988, Delors (Commission president) discusses European monetary union. This became known as the Delors Plan (1989) and envisaged the creation of monetary union, and a single currency, the euro.
- 1988, In Tallinn, Estonia in the Baltic region, 300 000 singers gather at a rally to demand independence from the Soviet Union
- 1989, Fall of the Berlin Wall between East and West Germany
- 1989, Velvet (i.e. bloodless) Revolution in Czechoslovakia results in overthrow of Communist government
- 1989, violent Romanian revolution results in overthrow of Communist regime and the execution of leader Ceasceascu and his wife on Christmas Day
- 1989, Tiananmen Square student protests are suppressed in Beijing, China
- On the Radio: US rap music moves into the mainstream with acts like LL Cool J and Ice-T (1985). In Ireland, The Pogues fuse punk and folk-rock. U2 crack the American market with Joshua Tree (1987) and Rattle and Hum. Micheal Jackson releases Thriller and it becomes the biggest selling album ever. In Britain, rave music, ambient house and dance takes over following the success of electropop in the early 80s (New Order, Bronski Beat, Cocteau Twins)
- On TV: The Simpsons (1989) start the trend for adult cartoons, Beavis and Butthead follow. MTV, the largest music TV network in the world starts broadcasting in 1981 and features videos by Madonna, Micheal Jackson and Duran Duran. Live Aid concert plays to 1.5 billion TV viewers on 13 July 1985, with simultaneous concerts in London, UK and Philadelphia, USA to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Other popular shows include Dynasty, Dukes of Hazzard, The Cosby Show, Cagney and Lacey, Miami Vice, Neighbours, Eastenders, The A Team
- At the Cinema: E.T., Ghostbusters, Pretty in Pink, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Top Gun, Mad Max, Indiana Jones, The Terminator
- In Sport: Micheal Jordan (US basketball), Diego Maradona (Argentina soccer), Martina Navratilova (Czech / US tennis), Jack Nicklaus (US golf), Alain Prost (French Formula 1), John McEnroe (US tennis), Gary Lineker (UK soccer)
- Leaders of the Time: President Francois Mitterand (France), Helmut Kohl (West Germany), Erich Honecker (East Germany), Taoiseach Haughey, Fitzgerald (Ireland), Brezhnev, Gorbachev (Soviet Union), President Carter, Reagan, George H W Bush (USA)
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1990s
- 1990, German reunification, and effectively the European Community enlarges with former Democratic Germany Republic (East Germany)
- 1991, the Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved, the Soviet empire disintegrates and ceases to exist. The Cold War is over. America becomes the only global superpower.
- 1991, The Balkan War starts. Serious fighting begins in Croatia when it and Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia. The Serb population in Croatia opposed this move, supported by the Yugoslav People's Army.
- 1992, Maastricht Treaty signed, modifying the Treaty of Rome. It led to the creation of the European Union, introduced the 3 pillar policy modus operandi, established citizenship of the EU, and set criteria for joining the euro and a timetable for EMU. It also developed new policy areas of common defence and security against external threats, and law and order for internal security.
- 1992-1995 : According to the Guinness Book of Records, the conflict in former Yugoslavia is the Bloodiest UN peacekeeping operation resulting in more fatalities for the United Nations Protection force (UNPROFOR) than any other UN peacekeeping mission ever (210 died have died from UN PROFOR). It also breaks the record for the largest peacekeeping deployment ever by the UNPROFOR, with almost 40,000 military personnel in September 1994 required to separate Serbs from Croats.
- 1993, EFTA (European Free Trade Agreement ) Treaty (1991) creates European economic area of 380 million people
- 1993, the European Community undergoes a name change, and becomes the European Union
- 1993, Maastricht Treaty comes into effect
- 1994, European Economic Area founded, to allow EFTA countries to participate in the Single market without becoming full members of the EU
- 1994-1998: Ireland's Celtic Tiger's most rapid growth spurt
- 1995, Finland, Sweden, Austria join the EU. Norway's people voted again not to become an EU member
- 1996, Advances in genetic engineering as Dolly the sheep is successfully cloned, and DNA technology is used to trace criminals
- 1997, Amsterdam Treaty signed, modifying the Maastricht Treaty (1992). This treaty made amendments on freedom security and justice, eu citizen rights, the role of the EU in the world, and improving the way of working for a greater number of joining states.
- 1997, Princess Diana killed in Paris car crash
- 1998, President Clinton's impeachment trial over his affair with Monica Lewinsky
- 1st January 1999, 11 countries agreed to participate in a common European currency idea called the euro, operated under a single monetary policy introduced under the authority of a European Central Bank. Greece agreed to join in 2001, bringing the number of eurozone members to 12. Britain, Denmark and Sweden decided not to join
- 1999, Britney Spears is launched on MTV in a schoolgirl outfit
- On the radio: Gangsta rap in the US (Dr. Dre), and Ice-T's single CopKiller causes controversy. In the UK, techno and trance (Leftfield, The Prodigy), and ambient music (Aphex Twin, The Orb). Spice Girls take over the world through girl power. Also British Asian underground music (Talvin Singh) and British Rock (Portishead, Radiohead)
- On TV: Cartoons for adults - The Simpsons, South Park, Beavis and Butthead
- At the cinema: Titanic, Pretty Woman, Batman, Pulp Fiction, Wayne's World, Dances with Wolves, Schindler's List, Toy Story
- In sport: Andre Agassi (US tennis), Paul Gascoigne (UK soccer), Ryan Giggs (Welsh soccer), Steffi Graf (German tennis), Micheal Schumacher (German Formula 1 racing), Monica Seles (Yugoslavia tennis), Alberto Tomba (Italy downhill ski)
- Leaders of the Time: Presidents Robinson, McAleese (Ireland), President Franjo Tudman (Croatia), President Slobodan Milosevic (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), President Mitterand, Chirac (France), Chancellor Kohl, Schroder (Germany), Prime Minister Major, Blair (UK), President Boris Yeltsin (Russia), Taoiseach Haughey, Bruton, Ahern (Ireland)
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00's
- 2000, Cotonou Agreement with ACP countries - EU takes on a world status role, signing a seris of conventions on aid and trade
- 2000, Lisbon Strategy adopted (to create competition, innovation, private investment, create jobs, modernise education systems and to become the most dynamic information society in the 21st century world)
- 1 Jan 2002, euro banknotes and coins introduced for daily use. The Irish punt is replaced by the euro overnight.
- Micheal Schumacher (Germany) wins 11 Formula One Grand Prix
- 2003 Iraq War
- 1 Feb 2003, Nice Treaty (for a bigger EU) comes into effect
- 2004, Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union oversees the largest enlargement ever of 10 new members: former Soviet bloc countries Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia; former Soviet Union states of the Baltic Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; Mediterranean countries Cyprus, Malta, and the former Yugoslavia republic, Slovenia
- 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania join the EU.
[1] ½ ounce (oz) of tea
[2] 2 ounces (oz)
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.jpg "Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn's website")
