ABSTRACT
The Treaty providing for the accession of Spain into the European Community was signed on 12 June 1985, after long negotiations which began in 1979. In fact what had to be negotiated was not reaching common positions between the parties but how and over what period Spain would adjust to the acquis communautaire and participate in the EC’s budget and in EC institutions. By the mid-1980s the acquis communautaire included: (1) the customs union; (2) the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); (3) a unique system for purchase taxes (i.e. VAT); and (4) external trade agreements. At that time neither European Political Cooperation nor any enabling legislation relating to the 1985 Programme for the Completion of the EC’s Internal Market (better known as ‘EC-92’) were part of the acquis. All this would be incorporated later on in the Single European Act agreed upon in 1986 by the enlarged EC, including Spain, and ratified in July 1987. Neither was the European Monetary System part of
the acquis, so Spain was not obliged to adhere to the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) upon entry.
