Editing European Economic Community (section)

===Toward Maastricht===
[[Greece]] re-applied to join the community on 12 June 1975, following the restoration of democracy, and joined on 1 January 1981.<ref name="accgr">{{cite web|first1=Etienne|last1=Deschamps|first2=Christian|last2=Lekl|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_accession_of_greece-en-61a2a7a5-39a9-4b06-91f8-69ae77b41515.html|title=The accession of Greece|publisher=Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe, Universite de Luxembourg|date=2016}}</ref> Following on from Greece, and after their own democratic restoration, [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] applied to the communities in 1977 and joined on 1 January 1986.<ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_accession_of_spain_and_portugal-en-b1dd040b-7463-4e67-88f2-4890f5b8fac6.html The Accession Treaties with Spain and Portugal] on CVCE website</ref> In 1987, [[Turkey]] formally applied to join the Community and began the longest application process for any country.

With the prospect of further enlargement, and a desire to increase areas of co-operation, the [[Single European Act]] was signed by the foreign ministers on 17 and 28 February 1986 in [[Luxembourg City|Luxembourg]] and [[The Hague]] respectively. In a single document it dealt with reform of institutions, extension of powers, foreign policy cooperation and the single market. It came into force on 1 July 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_provisions_of_the_single_european_act-en-243555aa-d219-4525-9978-34325bb5e17a.html|title=The provisions of the Single European Act|date=7 August 2016}}</ref> The act was followed by work on what would be the [[Maastricht Treaty]], which was agreed on 10 December 1991, signed the following year and coming into force on 1 November 1993 establishing the European Union, and paving the way for the [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union|European Monetary Union]].