Western Union (1948 – 1951/1954)

European Defence Community (plan that failed in 1954)

European Union (1992-present)

Period before the union had defence structures (1993-1999)	Maastricht Treaty (1992) Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) Saint-Malo declaration (1998)
European Security and Defence Policy (1999-2009)	Helsinki Headline Goal (1999) Seville Declarations (2002) European Security Strategy (2003) CAPECON project (2002-2005)
Common Security and Defence Policy (2009-present)	Treaty of Lisbon (2007) Lancaster House Treaties (2010) Operations Centre (2012-2016)