Editing History of the European Union (section)

==1973–1993: Enlargement to Delors==
{{Main|History of the European Communities (1973–1993)|Accession Treaty of Spain to the European Economic Community}}
[[Image:De Gaulle-OWI.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Charles De Gaulle|De Gaulle's]] veto delayed the first enlargement.]]
After much negotiation, and following a change in the [[President of France|French Presidency]], Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom (with [[Gibraltar]]) eventually joined the European Communities on 1 January 1973. This was the first of several enlargements which became a major policy area of the Union (see: [[Enlargement of the European Union]]).<ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_first_enlargement-en-fa871903-53b5-497e-855f-01c9842c7b94.html The first enlargement] cvce.eu</ref>

In 1979, the [[European Parliament]] held its first direct elections by [[universal suffrage]]. 410 members were elected, who then elected the first female [[President of the European Parliament]], [[Simone Veil]].<ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_new_european_parliament-en-e40aba1b-45f1-43bf-bbd1-a34bb52f15db.html The new European Parliament] cvce.eu</ref>

A further enlargement took place in 1981 with Greece joining on 1 January, six years after applying. In 1982, [[Greenland]] [[1982 Greenlandic European Communities membership referendum|voted to leave the Community]] after gaining [[home rule]] from Denmark (See also: [[Special member state territories and the European Union]]). [[Accession Treaty of Spain to the European Economic Community|Spain]] and Portugal joined (having applied in 1977) on 1 January 1986 in the third enlargement.<ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/negotiations_for_enlargement-en-19a4fd81-119d-4090-bfac-c7cc8ae64a20.html Negotiations for enlargement] cvce.eu</ref>

[[Image:West and East Germans at the Brandenburg Gate in 1989.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Iron Curtain]]'s fall enabled the accession of the [[East Germany|DDR]] ([[Berlin Wall]]).]]

Recently appointed Commission President [[Jacques Delors]] ([[Delors Commission]]) presided over the adoption of the [[European flag]] by the Communities in 1986. In the first major revision of [[Treaties of the European Union|the treaties]] since the Merger Treaty, leaders signed the [[Single European Act]] in February 1986. The text dealt with institutional reform, including extension of community powers – in particular in regarding foreign policy. It was a major component in completing the single market and came into force on 1 July 1987.<ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_provisions_of_the_single_european_act-en-243555aa-d219-4525-9978-34325bb5e17a.html Single European Act] cvce.eu</ref>
In 1987 [[Turkey]] formally applied to join the Community and began the longest application process for any country. After the [[1988 Polish strikes]] and the [[Polish Round Table Agreement]], the first small signs of opening in Central Europe appeared. The opening of a border gate between Austria and Hungary at the [[Pan-European Picnic]] on August 19, 1989 then set in motion a peaceful chain reaction, at the end of which there was no longer a GDR and the [[Eastern Bloc]] had disintegrated. [[Otto von Habsburg]] and [[Imre Pozsgay]] saw the event as an opportunity to test [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]`s reaction to an opening of the [[Iron Curtain]].<ref>Miklós Németh in Interview, Austrian TV – ORF "Report", 25 June 2019</ref> In particular, it was examined whether Moscow would give the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary the command to intervene.<ref>„Der 19. August 1989 war ein Test für Gorbatschows“ (German – August 19, 1989 was a test for Gorbachev), in: FAZ 19 August 2009.</ref> But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic, the subsequent hesitant behavior of the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party of East Germany]] and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union broke the dams. So the bracket of the Eastern Bloc was broken and as a result the [[Berlin Wall]] fell together with the whole Iron Curtain.<ref>Michael Frank: Paneuropäisches Picknick – Mit dem Picknickkorb in die Freiheit (German: Pan-European picnic – With the picnic basket to freedom), in: Süddeutsche Zeitung 17 May 2010.</ref><ref>Ludwig Greven "Und dann ging das Tor auf", in Die Zeit, 19 August 2014.</ref> [[German reunification|Germany reunified]] and the door to enlargement to the former [[Eastern Bloc]] was opened (See also: [[Copenhagen Criteria]]).<ref>[http://europa.eu/abc/history/1980-1989/index_en.htm The fall of the Berlin Wall] ena.lu</ref><ref>Andreas Rödder, Deutschland einig Vaterland – Die Geschichte der Wiedervereinigung (2009).</ref>

With a wave of new enlargements on the way, the [[Maastricht Treaty]] was signed on 7 February 1992 which established the European Union when it came into force the following year.