BRUSSELS, Dec 16 (AFP) - The European Union (EU) was set to decide Thursday whether to give Turkey the green light to start membership with the bloc.
Herewith key previous dates in the expansion of the EU and its forerunners.
April 1951: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands establish the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
March 1957: ECSC members sign the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC).
July 1967: The ECSC, EEC and the European Atomic Community (Euratom) merge under a single organisation, the European Community (EC).
January 1973: Britain, Denmark and Ireland join the EC.
January 1981: Greece becomes 10th EC member state.
January 1986: Spain and Portugal join.
April 1987: Turkey formally applies to join the EC.
November 1993: The Treaty of Maastricht comes into force, transforming the EC into the European Union.
January 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden join the EU.
May 1, 2004: in its biggest ever expansion the EU welcomes 10 new members: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Jan 1, 2007: target date for Romania, Bulgaria to join bloc.
From 2007-8: Croatia also hoping to join. Other countries in what the EU calls the western Balkans -- Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia-Hercegovina are also hoping one day to join the bloc.
From 2014: possible entry date for Turkey if it fufils all the conditions along its way.
12/16/2004 13:30 GMT - AFP