President of the European Commission three executives that were merged in 1967 following the Merger Treaty, namely the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (from 1952), and the commissions of the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community (both from 1958). Secondly, a list is given over the presidents after the merger, when the single position presided over the Commission of the European Communities, until 2009 when the Treaty of Lisbon renamed of the institution, creating the President of the European Commission. The European Economic Community was established by the Treaty of Rome, presently known as the Treaty on the
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum or Euratom) and European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957. The EEC, the more ambitious of the three, came to be known as the "Common Market". The UK first applied to join them in 1961, but this was vetoed by France. A later application was successful, and the UK joined in 1973; two years later, the first ever national referendum on continuing membership resulted in 67.2% approval. Political integration gained greater focus when the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union (EU) in 1993, which incorporated (and after the Treaty of Lisbon, succeeded) the European Communities. Prior to the 2010 general election,