On 24 January 2003, in the Moncloa Palace, Madrid, António Vitorino, Portuguese European Commissioner responsible for Justice and Home Affairs (left), is presented with the Grand Cross of St Raymond by the Spanish Prime Minister, José María Aznar.

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 4 June 2002, in Lisbon, Jorge Sampaio, President of the Portuguese Republic, delivers the opening address at the Conference on ‘The future of Europe and enlargement. A political model for 21st-century Europe.’

The Portuguese cartoonist Jorge Mateus takes an ironic look at aid applications from farmers under the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 19 and 20 June 2000, the Heads of State or Government of the fifteen Member States of the European Union meet in Santa Maria da Feira, Aveiro, Portugal, to review the progress made with regard to the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on institutional reform, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the European common security and defence policy and the negotiations on the enlargement of the European Union.

On 18 June 2000, António Guterres, Portuguese Prime Minister (right), greets his Spanish counterpart, José María Aznar, upon his arrival at the Santa Maria da Feira European Council.

On 23 March 2000, António Guterres, Portuguese Prime Minister and President-in-Office of the European Council, with Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, seated to his left and Jaime Gama, Portuguese Foreign Minister, and Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), on his right, outlines the challenges involved in defining a new strategic goal for the European Union in order to strengthen employment, economic reform and social cohesion as part of a knowledge-based economy.

The building of the Vasco da Gama Bridge that spans the Tagus River near Lisbon and links the Portuguese capital to the south of the country was partly financed by Community subsidies. The Bridge was officially opened on 4 April 1998.

On 27 March 1995, Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Portuguese Prime Minister (left), and Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission (right), together officially open the Jacques Delors European Information Centre at the Belém Cultural Centre in Lisbon.

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.