2006 in the European Union

Decades:	1980s; 1990s; 2000s; 2010s; 2020s;
See also:	Other events of 2006; Timeline of EU history;

Events from the year 2006 in the European Union.

Incumbents

1 January: Austria takes the Presidency.
2 February:
- The Commission launches a white paper on communication policy.
- European Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini backs the freedom of speech of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten during the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.^[1]
16 February: The Commission's 'Bolkestein Directive' is approved at its first reading by the MEPs admit large protests outside the Parliament.
7 April: .eu domain opens to the public.
4 May: The Commission adopts a green paper on the European Transparency Initiative.
3 June: Montenegro declares independence, leads to separate relations and accession negotiations.
21 June: Barroso attends EU-US summit in Vienna.
1 July: Finland takes the Presidency.
12 July: Kroes gives Microsoft a 280.5 million euro fine for its anti-competitive behaviour.
24 July: The Council adopts a common position on the Bolkestein Directive
15 November: European Parliament adopts the Bolkestein Directive at its second reading.
12 December: Parliament approves the Bulgarian and Romanian Commissioners despite concerns over the weakness of the Multilingualism portfolio.