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Size matters: a brief history of the EU enlargement

Enlargement is the French term by which we indicate the increase of the number of countries that belong to the European Union. The biggest growth happened in 2004, when the EU moved from fifteen to twenty-five countries. This process lasted a few decades and reached its completion when Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU on the 1st of May 2004, exactly twenty years ago. Twenty years of passion, hope, progress, complications, critics, love and some hate.

Size matters: a brief history of the EU enlargement

The history of the European Elections through their communication campaigns

The European Elections are not only one of the biggest democratic exercises in the world, they are also a huge communication campaign with the same goal since 1979: get people to vote.

Join us in a roller-coaster of nostalgia, pain and joy to discover the evolution of the Parliament efforts. 10 European elections, 10 communication campaigns, uncountable slogans and videos for you to enjoy.

The history of the European Elections through their communication campaigns

European elections 1979: the first massive EU communication campaign

Turning points in history often go unnoticed; but the European Community did not want this to happen to the first direct EU elections ever held, forty-four years ago.

The elections were set for 1979 (from 7 to 10 June) and the EU institutions had to set up their biggest communication campaign (to date). As many things in the EU, the success was debatable, but it was a first step. The first step to keep moving EU communication forward. Or at least not backward. Standing still is also fine, actually.

European elections 1979: the first massive EU communication campaign

The European Defense Community: a case of treaty interruptus

Jean Monnet, the architect of the European Union, linked his political future to the creation of a pan-European military force: before the ‘strategic autonomy’ mantra, there were a proposal, an agreement and a Treaty signed by the ‘inner six’ (27 May 1952). This is the story of the “European army”, a dream that could have been reality.

The first European Army

The planned European Defense Community (EDC) would have entailed a pan-European military: the Treaty of Paris establishing the EDC, signed in May 1952 (yes, there have been a hundred more treaties signed in Paris), established a EU co-force with a shared budget, common arms, centralized military procurement and #EUdefence institutions.

The European Defense Community: a case of treaty interruptus