The Treaty between the nine Member States of the European Communities and the Hellenic Republic concerning the accession of the Hellenic Republic to the European Economic Community and to the European Atomic Energy Community was signed in Athens on 28 May 1979, in a single original, the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Irish and Italian texts being equally authentic. Depositary: the Italian government. It is not the Council Decision of 24 May 1979 on accession to the European Coal and Steel Community, a separate instrument done at Brussels. The Act concerning the conditions of accession is an integral part.

The preamble restates the objectives of the EEC and Euratom Treaties, an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, and Articles 237 EEC and 205 Euratom, which open membership to European states. The Council, after obtaining the opinion of the Commission, declared itself in favour of admission. Plenipotentiaries included, among others, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Wilfried Martens, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Giulio Andreotti, Gaston Thorn and Lord Carrington.

Article 1: the Hellenic Republic becomes a member of the EEC and of Euratom and a party to the Treaties establishing those Communities as amended or supplemented. The conditions of admission and the adjustments are set out in the annexed Act; its provisions concerning the EEC and Euratom form an integral part of this Treaty. The provisions on the rights and obligations of the Member States and the powers of the institutions, as set out in those Treaties, apply in respect of this Treaty. Tariff lists, agricultural protocols and Protocol 6 on nuclear energy are not transcribed as a handbook.

Article 2: ratification in accordance with constitutional requirements, instruments to be deposited with the Italian government by 31 December 1980 at the latest. The Treaty enters into force on 1 January 1981, provided that all instruments of ratification have been deposited before that date and that the Hellenic Republic's instrument of accession to the ECSC is deposited on that date. Article 3: the original is deposited in the archives of the Italian government, which transmits a certified copy to each of the other signatory governments.

The Act, in five parts, covers principles, adjustments to the Treaties, adaptations of acts of the institutions, transitional measures and provisions on implementation, plus annexes and seven protocols, including those on the European Investment Bank and on cotton. The Final Act collects joint declarations, among them that concerning Mount Athos. Accession took effect on the date provided. A customs timetable and a free-movement-of-workers playbook are not set out here.

Cover: the Zappeion in Athens, the usual venue of the accession ceremony; we do not claim the hall. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

Sources consulted: Treaty of Accession 1979; Treaty concerning the accession of the Hellenic Republic (OJ L 291, 19.11.1979).