2007 in the European Union explained

Events from the year 2007 in the European Union.

Incumbents

• Commission President – José Manuel Barroso, People's Party
• Council Presidency – Germany (January–June) and Portugal (July–December)
• Parliament President – Josep Borrell, Socialists (to 16 January). Hans-Gert Pöttering, People's Party
• High Representative – Javier Solana, Socialists

Events

• 1 January – Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union.^[1]
• 1 January – Slovenia adopts the Euro as its official currency, replacing the tolar.^[2]
• 1 January – Irish becomes the 23rd official language of the EU.^[3]
• 1 January – Germany takes over the EU Presidency.^[4]
• 9 January – far right MEPs form a political group called Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty.^[5]
• 25 March – Berlin Declaration signed to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.
• 1 June – The REACH directive, described as "most important piece of EU legislation for 20 years", comes into force.^[6]
• 23 June – EU leaders agree to a Reform Treaty (later named Treaty of Lisbon) to replace the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe rejected by Dutch and French voters in referendums.^[7]
• 1 July – Portugal takes over the Presidency from Germany.^[4]
• 23 July – Intergovernmental Conference on the Treaty of Lisbon starts.^[8]
• 13 December 2007 – Signing of the Treaty of Lisbon
• 21 December – Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia implement the Schengen Agreement for overland borders and seaports.^[9]

See also

• History of the European Union
• Timeline of European Union history

External links

• Video: What has Europe done for you in 2007?

Notes and References

1. http://ec.europa.eu/news/external_relations/070101_1_en.htm Bulgaria and Romania latest to join the EU
2. Web site: Bank of Slovenia . 2 July 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070106054626/http://www.bsi.si/en/economic-and-monetary-union.asp?MapaId=690 . 6 January 2007 . dead .
3. http://ec.europa.eu/news/around/061222_irl_en.htm The EU says "dia dhuit"' to Irish
4. Web site: German Presidency website . 10 January 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070701001206/http://www.eu2007.de/en/The_Council_Presidency/What_is_the_Presidency/index.html . 1 July 2007 . dead . dmy-all .
5. http://euobserver.com/9/23223 Far-right group formed in European Parliament
6. http://www.theparliament.com/EN/News/200705/26efccdb-8fc6-47b4-a140-2be556fdfcf4.htm REACH EU chemical law comes into force
7. http://ec.europa.eu/news/eu_explained/070625_1_en.htm "EU leaders break treaty deadlock", EU Commission
8. Web site: Portuguese Presidency . 2 July 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110411175943/http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/ven/ . 11 April 2011 . dead .
9. Web site: "Europe's border-free zone expands", BBC News. 2007-12-21 . 2007-12-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20071221044652/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7153490.stm. 21 December 2007 . live.