On 1 January 1986, the accession of Portugal and Spain brings the number of Member Countries in the European Communities up to twelve.

On 1 January 1986, the effective date of Spain and Portugal's accession to the European Communities, the Spanish and Portuguese flags are hoisted for the first time in front of the seat of the European institutions in Brussels.

The French cartoonist, Plantu, takes an ironic look at the accession of Spain and Portugal to the EEC which, on 1 January 1986, increases from 10 to 12 Member States.

Extract from a documentary about Portugal's accession to the European Economic Community on 1 January 1986 and the first Community aid from which the country benefits.

Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Portuguese Prime Minister, with the Ambassadors of the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) in Lisbon on 2 January 1986.

On 2 January 1986, the Lisbon daily newspaper Diário Popular reports on the New Year address delivered by Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Portuguese Prime Minister, for whom the accession of Portugal to the European Communities, after several long years of negotiation, is synonymous with hope for the Portuguese people and heralds a further opening of the country to the world.

The very first Spanish and Portuguese MEPs, Fernando Amaral and Carlos Westendorp (right) arrive in Strasbourg, where they are welcomed by the President of the European Parliament, Pierre Pflimlin.

On 3 January 1986, in Lisbon, the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Pedro Pires de Miranda, chairs a press conference on Portugal’s accession to the European Communities, which took place two days earlier. The photo shows (from left to right): the Minister for Labour and Social Security, Luís Mira Amaral, the Minister for Planning and Territorial Administration, Luís Valente de Oliveira, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Álvaro Barreto, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Fernando Nogueira, and the State Secretary for European Integration, Vítor Martins.

On 24 January 1986, the Portuguese Prime Minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva (centre), meets António Cardoso e Cunha (second on the left), European Commissioner with special responsibility for the common fisheries policy.

Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, at a meeting with Mário Soares, President of the Portuguese Republic, on 10 April 1986.

On 9 July 1986, in Strasbourg, Mário Soares, Portuguese Prime Minister, delivers an address to the European Parliament.

On 6 April 1987, during the official visit to Portugal by François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic, Mário Soares, Portuguese Prime Minister, delivers an address in which he emphasises the age-old relations between France and Portugal and the need to strengthen joint efforts within the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 15 April 1987, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Portuguese Prime Minister, receives the President of the European Commission, Jaques Delors, in Lisbon.

On 8 May 1987, in Lisbon, the Portuguese State Secretary for European Integration, Vítor Martins (right), talks to Abel Matutes (left), European Commissioner with special responsibility for policy on small and medium-sized enterprises.

On 22 January 1988, in Oporto, the Portuguese Prime Minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva (centre), chairs the opening of a series of lectures entitled ‘Portugal and integration into the EEC’ and organised by the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party in the European Parliament.

On 12 May 1988, in Lisbon, the Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs, João de Deus Pinheiro, talks to David Williamson, Secretary-General of the European Commission.

On 1 January 1986, the day on which Portugal officially accedes to the European Communities, the Portuguese daily newspaper Diário de Notícias analyses the impact of accession on foreign investment in Portugal.

On 3 January 1986, following the accession of Portugal and Spain to the European Communities, the European Commissioners Antonio Cardoso e Cunha and Manuel Marín speak to journalists on the subject of the harmonisation of customs regimes between these countries and the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 30 July 1986, the Portuguese Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Álvaro Barreto (centre), chairs a press conference on Community regulations concerning the aid to be granted to Portuguese agriculture.

On 4 March 1988, in Caya, Badajoz, the former Portuguese MP, António Cardoso e Cunha, Member of the European Commission responsible for fisheries policy, symbolically unveils the new boundary post which marks the border between Spain and Portugal.

On 4 March 1988, in Caya, Badajoz, a group of children wave European flags to celebrate the symbolic unveiling of the new boundary post that replaces the former border checkpoint between Spain and Portugal.

On 2 December 1988, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro reports on the fears of Portuguese unions and employers raised by the prospect of a large single market in Europe in 1993.

In March 1990, the Portuguese economic affairs magazine Cadernos de Economia provides an economic assessment of Portugal's first four years of membership of the European Communities.

Passport issued by Portugal in accordance with the uniform European format.

In January 1992, a Portuguese citizen replaces his vehicle’s old registration plates with the new Portuguese plates displaying a blue zone with 12 yellow stars representing the European flag.

On 30 November 1990, the Portuguese Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Arlindo Cunha, chairs a press conference following the approval of the ‘package’ for the second stage of Portugal’s accession to the European Communities.

New allocation of resources from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), adopted by the Council on a proposal from the Commission and applicable as from 1 January 1986 in order to take into account the accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Communities. The proportion of the resources received by a Member State is based on the GDP per citizen of its disadvantaged regions and on the size of the population in these regions.

On 2 January 1986, the Lisbon daily newspaper Diário Popular analyses the financial implications of Portugal’s accession to the European Communities and describes various reactions to the enlargement of the Communities.

On 29 October 1986, a press conference is held in order to present the Community programmes STAR, which aims to promote the development of certain disadvantaged areas in the Community by providing better access to advanced telecommunications services, and VALOREN, which concerns the development of certain disadvantaged regions in the Community through the promotion of their indigenous energy potential. The photo shows, from left to right: the Portuguese State Secretaries for European Integration, Vítor Martins, for Planning and Regional Development, José Silva Peneda, and for Transport and Communications, Gonçalo Sequeira Braga.

On 26 February 1987, the French daily newspaper Le Monde analyses the flow of capital and the level of public aid granted to Portugal since its accession to the European Communities on 1 January 1986.

On 13 July 1987, the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reports that Portugal is still struggling to overcome its economic deficit and combat poverty despite the new public funding awarded by the Community institutions.

On 18 September 1987, in Lisbon, the Portuguese Minister for Industry and Energy, Luís Mira Amaral, chairs a press conference about the Community programme VALOREN, which concerns the development of certain disadvantaged regions in the Community through the promotion of their indigenous energy potential. On his left: the State Secretary for European Integration, Vítor Martins; on his right: the State Secretaries for Energy, Nuno Silva, and for European Integration, Isabel Mota.

On 15 October 1987, the European Commission sets out in a press release the objectives, priorities for action and funding plan of the Specific Programme for the Development of Portuguese Industry (PEDIP).

In a press release dated 23 October 1987, the European Commission notes that, the same day, a bilateral agreement has been signed with Portugal defining the conditions for granting European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) readaptation aid to Portuguese workers.

In a press release dated 18 January 1988, the European Commission announces that the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will participate in the financing of the Portuguese regional aid scheme for the period 1988–1991.

On 6 December 1988, in Oporto, the Portuguese Minister for Industry and Energy, Luís Mira Amaral (centre), the President of the Portuguese Industrial Association, Ludgero Marques (left) and the manager of the PEDIP programme, Albertino Santana, hold a press conference on the application of the Specific Programme for the Development of Portuguese Industry (PEDIP).

On 3 March 1989, the Portuguese Minister for Industry and Energy, Luís Mira Amaral (fourth from the right) chairs the meeting for the presentation of the Specific Programme for the Development of Portuguese Industry (PEDIP). On his right: Martin Bangemann, Vice-President of the European Commission; on his left: the Portuguese State Secretaries for Industry, António José Fernandes de Sousa, and for Energy, Nuno Ribeiro da Silva.

On 13 March 1989, the Portuguese Minister for Employment and Social Security, José Silva Peneda (at the microphone, on the left), chairs the opening of the seminar entitled ‘The European Social Fund and the reform of the Structural Funds’.

On 5 February 1990, Luís Mira Amaral, Portuguese Minister for Industry and Energy, presides over the signing of the Protocol establishing the Gabinete de Apoio às Tecnologias de Informação e Electrónica (GATIE) and the Gabinete de Apoio a Projectos Educativos (GAPE) in the presence of Martin Bangemann, European Commissioner with special responsibility for the Internal Market and Industrial Affairs.

On 19 June 1990, the Portuguese Minister for Planning and Territorial Administration, Luís Valente de Oliveira, chairs the ceremony for the signing of the Specific Development Programme for the Autonomous Region of the Azores (PEDRAA).

On 18 June 1991, the European Commissioner with special responsibility for regional policy, Bruce Millan, and the Portuguese Minister for Planning, Luís Valente de Oliveira, sign the INTERREG Community programme for the development of the border regions of Portugal and Spain.

In August 1991, the French monthly newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique analyses the consequences for the country's economy and society of Portugual's accession to the European Communities on 1 January 1986.

On 11 March 1992, the European Commission carries out a mid-term review of the impact of the Community Support Framework (CSF) for Portugal, which covers the period 1989–1993, on the development of the Portuguese economy.

At a press conference held on 19 December 1991, the Portuguese Prime Minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, presents the first programme of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Communities.

On 3 January 1992, in Lisbon, Mário Soares (right), President of the Portuguese Republic, Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (left), Portuguese Prime Minister, and Pedro Santana Lopes (centre), Portuguese Junior Minister for Culture, take part in the opening ceremony for the first Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Communities.

The Belém Cultural Centre was built to host events organised in Lisbon during Portugal's Presidency of the Council of the European Communities in the first half of 1992 and has since become an important venue for Portuguese cultural life.

On 7 February 1992, in Maastricht, João de Deus Pinheiro (left), Portuguese Foreign Minister, and Jorge Braga de Macedo (right), Portuguese Finance Minister, sign the Treaty on European Union.

On 7 February 1992, Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Portuguese Prime Minister and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Communities, delivers an address in which he emphasises the political implications of the Treaty on European Union (EU), signed that day in Maastricht by the Twelve.

José Manuel Durão Barroso, Portuguese Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and João de Deus Pinheiro, Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the Lisbon European Council on 17 February 1992.

On 2 May 1992, in Oporto, the Foreign Ministers of the 12 Member States of the European Communities and those of the seven Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) sign the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The Agreement enters into force on 1 January 1994.

On 2 May 1992, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Portuguese Prime Minister, João de Deus Pinheiro, Portuguese Foreign Minister, and Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, are present in Oporto for the signing of the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement.

Map showing the establishment, on 2 May 1992, and the development of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Group photo of the informal Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs held in Guimarães on 2 May 1992.

On 26 and 27 June 1992, the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve meet in Lisbon for a European Council, at the end of which they confirm their commitment to see the Treaty on European Union enter into force on 1 January 1993 and their wish to prepare the enlargement of the EU to include the applicant countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Conclusions of the Presidency of the Lisbon European Council of 26 and 27 July 1992 concerning, in particular, the ratification of the Treaty on European Union, the forthcoming enlargement and the internal market.