1. Time line By: Shirley Lin

2. The story of European Union 1945 1951 19571973 1981 1986 19921995 2004 2007

3. 1945 The second world war ended in 1945.

4. 1951 The ECSC was set up in 1951.

5. 1957 The EEC was set up in 1957.

6. 1973 The UK, Denmark and Ireland joined in 1973.

7. 1981 The Greece joined in 1981.

8. 1986 The Portugal and Spain joined in 1986.

9. 1992 It had finished building the ‘single market’. They change its name to the ‘EU’ in 1992.

10. 1995 The Austria, Finland and Sweden joined in 1995.

11. 200 4 The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta joined the EU on 1 may 2004.

12. 2007 On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the group.