EU cooperation is based on a number of treaties – of these, the three fundamental ones are:

1. The EC Treaty

The Treaty establishing the European Community (the Treaty of Rome)
This Treaty was signed by the six original Member States in Rome on 25 March 1957 – the Treaty is therefore also known as the Treaty of Rome. The Treaty came into force on 1 January 1958.

This Treaty was originally called the EEC Treaty, the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, but when the Maastricht Treaty came into force, the EEC Treaty was renamed the EC Treaty, the Treaty establishing the European Community (EC). The EC Treaty contains provisions concerning supranational cooperation within the EU.

2. The EU Treaty

The Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty)
This Treaty was signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992, and is therefore also known as the Maastricht Treaty. The Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993, and contains the provisions concerning intergovernmental EU cooperation.

3. The Euratom Treaty 

The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community
This Treaty was signed in Rome on 25 March 1957 and came into force on 1 January 1958.

The fundamental treaties have been amended or supplemented on several occasions by treaties which are not in themselves fundamental treaties, because they only contain amendments to the ‘old’ treaties. For example, the Single European Act (the EC package) and the Amsterdam and Nice Treaties are not in themselves fundamental treaties, but the provisions in these treaties amend or supplement provisions in the EC and EU Treaties. Treaties are also signed between the old Member States and new EU Member States when they join the EU.

One of the other basic treaties in the EU was the ECSC Treaty - the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, which can be considered as the forerunner of the EU. This Treaty was signed in Paris on 18 April 1951 and came into force on 25 July 1952, but as it was only valid for 50 years, the Treaty expired on 23 July 2002.

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Sidst opdateret: 30-07-2008  - ANSJ