pursuant to the incorporation of the european communities into the european union in 1993, and envisioning the enlargement in membership of the eu following the end of the cold war, it was decided that the legal and organisational framework of the schools needed an overhaul. on 21 june 1994 the convention defining the statute of the european schools, which repealed and replaced the 1957 statute of the european school and its accompanying 1962 protocol, was signed by all 12 then eu member states. on 1 october 2002 it came into effect, following ratification by all signatories. following the subsequent enlargements of the eu, the acceding states have also acceded to the 1994 convention, which now includes amongst its contracting parties (following the most recent accession of croatia to the eu in 2013) all 28 eu member states, as well as the eu itself, and euratom.