<P> The Treaties of Rome had stated that the European Parliament must be directly elected, however this required the Council to agree on a common voting system first . The Council procrastinated on the issue and the Parliament remained appointed, French President Charles de Gaulle was particularly active in blocking the development of the Parliament, with it only being granted Budgetary powers following his resignation . </P> <P> Parliament pressured for agreement and on 20 September 1976 the Council agreed part of the necessary instruments for election, deferring details on electoral systems which remain varied to this day . During the tenure of President Jenkins, in June 1979, the elections were held in all the then - members (see European Parliament election, 1979). The new Parliament, galvanised by direct election and new powers, started working full - time and became more active than the previous assemblies . </P> <P> Shortly after its election, the Parliament proposed that the Community adopt the flag of Europe design used by the Council of Europe . The European Council in 1984 appointed an ad hoc committee for this purpose . The European Council in 1985 largely followed the Committee's recommendations, but as the adoption of a flag was strongly reminiscent of a national flag representing statehood, was controversial, the "flag of Europe" design was adopted only with the status of a "logo" or "emblem". </P> <P> The European Council, or European summit, had developed since the 1960s as an informal meeting of the Council at the level of heads of state . It had originated from then - French President Charles de Gaulle's resentment at the domination of supranational institutions (e.g. the Commission) over the integration process . It was mentioned in the treaties for the first time in the Single European Act (see below). </P>

When did the common market became the european union