50 Years of the Treaties of Rome

At the centre, the treaty document signed by the six founding members, set against Michelangelo's star-patterned pavement on the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, where the Treaty was signed on 25 March 1957. Directly above the treaty, the word "Europe" is engraved in the respective language. Above it, the commemorative occasion; below, the issuing country in the relevant language version(s) and the year 2007.

First joint issue of the European Union. All 13 euro-area states issued a coin with the same design on the anniversary date of 25 March 2007. The coins differ only in the inscription, which appears in each country's national language.

On the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, the foreign ministers of six Western European states signed two treaties on 25 March 1957 that laid the foundation for the continent's economic integration. The first established the European Economic Community (EEC) with the goal of a common market, free movement of goods, and coordinated economic policy; the second created the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The founding members were Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The choice of location was deliberately symbolic: Michelangelo's star-patterned square on the Capitoline Hill lent the act state dignity. From the institutional framework thus created, the European Communities first emerged over the decades, and finally, with the Maastricht Treaty of 1993, the European Union.

Greece was not among the 1957 signatories but pursued closer ties to the Community early on: as early as 1961, the country concluded an association agreement with the EEC — the first of its kind. After the end of the military dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in 1974, Greece began accession negotiations and joined the European Community on 1 January 1981 as its tenth member. This European integration was significant not only economically but also as a signal of democratic policy. To mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, all euro states jointly issued a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2007, in which Greece also took part as part of this European joint issue.