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- 19581967
- 19671970
Walter Hallstein
Jean Rey (politician)
Franois-Xavier
- 19731977
Ortoli
- 19771981
Roy Jenkins
- 19811985
Gaston Thorn
- 19851993
Jacques Delors
Legislature
Legislature
- Upper house
Council of Ministers
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European Parliament
Historical era
Cold War
- Treaty signing 25 March 1957
- Established
1 January 1958
European
Communities 1 July 1967
Becomes part of 1 November
a Pillar
1993/2009
- Pillar abolished 1 December 2009
Different currencies;
Currency
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Today part of
European Union
The information in this infobox covers the EEC's
time as an independent organisation. It does not give
details of post-1993 operation within the EU as that is
explained in greater length in the European Union
and European Communities articles.
De facto only, these cities hosted the main
institutions but were not titled as capitals due to the
EEC being primarily an international organisation.
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The European Economic Community (EEC) was an international organization created by the
Treaty of Rome of 1957.[1] Upon the formation of the European Union in 1993, the EEC was
incorporated and renamed as the European Community. In 2009 the EC's institutions were
absorbed into the EU's wider framework and the community ceased to exist.
The Community's aim was to bring about economic integration, including a common market,
among its six founding members: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and
West Germany. It gained a common set of institutions along with the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) as one of the
European Communities under the 1965 Merger Treaty (Treaty of Brussels).
Upon the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, the EEC was renamed the European
Community (EC) to reflect that it covered a wider range of policy. This was also when the three
European Communities, including the EC, were collectively made to constitute the first of the
three pillars of the European Union (EU), which the treaty also founded. The EC existed in this
form until it was abolished by the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, which incorporated the EC's
institutions into the EU's wider framework and provided that the EU would "replace and succeed
the European Community".
The EEC was also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world and sometimes
referred to as the European Community even before it was officially renamed as such in 1993.
Contents
1 History
o 1.1 Background
o 1.2 Creation and early years
o 1.3 Enlargement and elections
o 1.4 Towards Maastricht
o 1.5 European Community
3 Members
4 Institutions
o 4.1 Background
o 4.2 Council
o 4.3 Commission
o 4.4 Parliament
o 4.5 Court
o 4.6 Auditors
5 Policy areas
6 See also
8 Further reading
9 External links
History
Further information: History of the European Union
Background
In 1951, the Treaty of Paris was signed, creating the European Coal and Steel Community
(ECSC). This was an international community based on supranationalism and international law,
designed to help the economy of Europe and prevent future war by integrating its members.
In the aim of creating a federal Europe two further communities were proposed: a European
Defence Community and a European Political Community. While the treaty for the latter was
being drawn up by the Common Assembly, the ECSC parliamentary chamber, the proposed
defence community was rejected by the French Parliament. ECSC President Jean Monnet, a
leading figure behind the communities, resigned from the High Authority in protest and began
work on alternative communities, based on economic integration rather than political integration.
[2]
After the Messina Conference in 1955, Paul Henri Spaak was given the task to prepare a report
on the idea of a customs union. The so-called Spaak Report of the Spaak Committee formed the
cornerstone of the intergovernmental negotiations at Val Duchesse castle in 1956.[3] Together
with the Ohlin Report the Spaak Report would provide the basis for the Treaty of Rome.
In 1956, Paul Henri Spaak led the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and
Euratom at the Val Duchesse castle, which prepared for the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The
conference led to the signature, on 25 March 1957, of the Treaty of Rome establishing a
European Economic Community.
on 16 January 1958 at the Chateau de Val-Duchesse. The EEC (direct ancestor of the modern
Community) was to create a customs union while Euratom would promote co-operation in the
nuclear power sphere. The EEC rapidly became the most important of these and expanded its
activities. One of the first important accomplishments of the EEC was the establishment (1962)
of common price levels for agricultural products. In 1968, internal tariffs (tariffs on trade
between member nations) were removed on certain products.
Another crisis was triggered in regard to proposals for the financing of the Common Agricultural
Policy, which came into force in 1962. The transitional period whereby decisions were made by
unanimity had come to an end, and majority-voting in the Council had taken effect. Then-French
President Charles de Gaulle's opposition to supranationalism and fear of the other members
challenging the CAP led to an "empty chair policy" whereby French representatives were
withdrawn from the European institutions until the French veto was reinstated. Eventually, a
compromise was reached with the Luxembourg compromise on 29 January 1966 whereby a
gentlemen's agreement permitted members to use a veto on areas of national interest.[4][5]
On 1 July 1967 when the Merger Treaty came into operation, combining the institutions of the
ECSC and Euratom into that of the EEC, they already shared a Parliamentary Assembly and
Courts. Collectively they were known as the European Communities. The Communities still had
independent personalities although were increasingly integrated. Future treaties granted the
community new powers beyond simple economic matters which had achieved a high level of
integration. As it got closer to the goal of political integration and a peaceful and united Europe,
what Mikhail Gorbachev described as a Common European Home.
French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed British membership, held back the development of
Parliament's powers and was at the centre of the 'empty chair crisis' of 1965
The 1960s saw the first attempts at enlargement. In 1961, Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the
United Kingdom applied to join the three Communities. However, President Charles de Gaulle
saw British membership as a Trojan horse for U.S. influence and vetoed membership, and the
applications of all four countries were suspended.
The four countries resubmitted their applications on 11 May 1967 and with Georges Pompidou
succeeding Charles de Gaulle as French president in 1969, the veto was lifted. Negotiations
began in 1970 under the pro-European government of Edward Heath, who had to deal with
disagreements relating to the Common Agricultural Policy and the UK's relationship with the
Commonwealth of Nations. Nevertheless, two years later the accession treaties were signed and
all but Norway acceded to the Community (Norway rejected membership in a referendum) from
1 January 1973.
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,[6] 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.
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.[6] During the tenure of President Jenkins, in June 1979, the elections were held in all the
then-members (see European Parliament election, 1979).[7] The new Parliament, galvanised by
direct election and new powers, started working full-time and became more active than the
previous assemblies.[6]
Shortly after its election, Parliament became the first Community institution to propose that the
Community adopt the flag of Europe.[8] The European Council agreed to this and adopted the
Symbols of Europe as those of the Community in 1984.[9] 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).[10]
Towards Maastricht
Greece applied to join the community on 12 June 1975, following the restoration of democracy,
and joined on 1 January 1981.[11] Following on from Greece, and after their own democratic
restoration, Spain and Portugal applied to the communities in 1977 and joined together on 1
January 1986.[12] In 1987 Turkey formally applied to join the Community and began the longest
application process for any country.
With the prospect of further enlargement, and a desire to increase areas of co-operation, the
Single European Act was signed by the foreign ministers on the 17 and 28 February 1986 in
Luxembourg and the Hague respectively. In a single document it dealt with reform of
institutions, extension of powers, foreign policy cooperation and the single market. It came into
force on 1 July 1987.[13] The act was followed by work on what would be the Maastricht Treaty,
which was agreed on 10 December 1991, signed the following year and coming into force on 1
November 1993 establishing the European Union.
European Community
European Communities
Pillars of the European Union
However, after the Treaty of Maastricht, Parliament gained a much bigger role. Maastricht
brought in the codecision procedure, which gave it equal legislative power with the Council on
Community matters. Hence, with the greater powers of the supranational institutions and the
operation of Qualified Majority Voting in the Council, the Community pillar could be described
as a far more federal method of decision making.
The Treaty of Amsterdam transferred responsibility for free movement of persons (e.g., visas,
illegal immigration, asylum) from the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) pillar to the European
Community (JHA was renamed Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) as
a result).[14] Both Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice also extended codecision procedure to
nearly all policy areas, giving Parliament equal power to the Council in the Community.
In 2002, the Treaty of Paris which established the ECSC expired, having reached its 50-year
limit (as the first treaty, it was the only one with a limit). No attempt was made to renew its
mandate; instead, the Treaty of Nice transferred certain of its elements to the Treaty of Rome and
hence its work continued as part of the EC area of the European Community's remit.
After the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 the pillar structure ceased to exist. The
European Community, together with its legal personality, was transferred to the newly
consolidated European Union which merged in the other two pillars (however Euratom remained
distinct). This was originally proposed under the European Constitution but that treaty failed
ratification in 2005.
Members
Further information: Member state of the European Union and Enlargement of the European
Union
The six states that founded the EEC and the other two Communities were known as the "inner
six" (the "outer seven" were those countries who formed the European Free Trade Association).
The six were France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries: Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg. The first enlargement was in 1973, with the accession of
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Greece, Spain and Portugal joined in the 1980s. The
former East Germany became part of the EEC upon German reunification in 1990. Following the
creation of the EU in 1993, it has enlarged to include an additional sixteen countries by 2013.
State
Belgium
Denmark
France
Germany[note 1]
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Accession
Language(s)
Currency
Population
(1990)[17]
Belgian franc[18]
10,016,000
Danish krone
5,146,500
French franc
56,718,000
German mark
63,254,000[19]
Greek drachma
10,120,000
Irish pound
3,521,000
Italian lira
56,762,700
Luxembourgish
franc[18]
384,400
Dutch guilder
14,892,300
Flag
State
Portugal
Spain
United
Kingdom
Accession
Language(s)
1 January
Portuguese
1986
1 January
Spanish[note 2]
1986
1 January
English
1973
Currency
Population
(1990)[17]
38,993,800
Pound sterling
57,681,000
Member states are represented in some form in each institution. The Council is also composed of
one national minister who represents their national government. Each state also has a right to one
European Commissioner each, although in the European Commission they are not supposed to
represent their national interest but that of the Community. Prior to 2004, the larger members
(France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) have had two Commissioners. In the European
Parliament, members are allocated a set number seats related to their population, however these
(since 1979) have been directly elected and they sit according to political allegiance, not national
origin. Most other institutions, including the European Court of Justice, have some form of
national division of its members.
Institutions
Further information: Institutions of the European Union
There were three political institutions which held the executive and legislative power of the EEC,
plus one judicial institution and a fifth body created in 1975. These institutions (except for the
auditors) were created in 1957 by the EEC but from 1967 onwards they applied to all three
Communities. The Council represents governments, the Parliament represents citizens and the
Commission represents the European interest.[20] Essentially, the Council, Parliament or another
party place a request for legislation to the Commission. The Commission then drafts this and
presents it to the Council for approval and the Parliament for an opinion (in some cases it had a
veto, depending upon the legislative procedure in use). The Commission's duty is to ensure it is
implemented by dealing with the day-to-day running of the Union and taking others to Court if
they fail to comply.[20] After the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, these institutions became those of the
European Union, though limited in some areas due to the pillar structure. Despite this,
Parliament in particular has gained more power over legislation and security of the Commission.
The Court was the highest authority in the law, settling legal disputes in the Community, while
the Auditors had no power but to investigate.
Background
The High Authority had more executive powers than the Commission which replaced it
The EEC inherited some of the Institutions of the ECSC in that the Common Assembly and
Court of Justice of the ECSC had their authority extended to the EEC and Euratom in the same
role. However the EEC, and Euratom, had different executive bodies to the ECSC. In place of
the ECSC's Council of Ministers was the Council of the European Economic Community, and in
place of the High Authority was the Commission of the European Communities.
There was greater difference between these than name: the French government of the day had
grown suspicious of the supranational power of the High Authority and sought to curb its powers
in favour of the intergovernmental style Council. Hence the Council had a greater executive role
in the running of the EEC than was the situation in the ECSC. By virtue of the Merger Treaty in
1967, the executives of the ECSC and Euratom were merged with that of the EEC, creating a
single institutional structure governing the three separate Communities. From here on, the term
European Communities were used for the institutions (for example, from Commission of the
European Economic Community to the Commission of the European Communities.[21][22][23]
Council
the member states every six months and it is related to the European Council, which was an
informal gather of national leaders (started in 1961) on the same basis as the Council.[24]
The Council was composed of one national minister from each member state. However the
Council met in various forms depending upon the topic. For example, if agriculture was being
discussed, the Council would be composed of each national minister for agriculture. They
represented their governments and were accountable to their national political systems. Votes
were taken either by majority (with votes allocated according to population) or unanimity. In
these various forms they share some legislative and budgetary power of the Parliament.[24] Since
the 1960s the Council also began to meet informally at the level of national leaders; these
European summits followed the same presidency system and secretariat as the Council but was
not a formal formation of it.
Commission
The Commission of the European Communities was the executive arm of the community,
drafting Community law, dealing with the day to running of the Community and upholding the
treaties. It was designed to be independent, representing the Community interest, but was
composed of national representatives (two from each of the larger states, one from the smaller
states). One of its members was the President, appointed by the Council, who chaired the body
and represented it.
Parliament
The European Parliament held its first elections in 1979, slowly gaining more influence over
Community decision making.
Under the Community, the European Parliament (formerly the European Parliamentary
Assembly) had an advisory role to the Council and Commission. There were a number of
Community legislative procedures, at first there was only the consultation procedure, which
meant Parliament had to be consulted, although it was often ignored. The Single European Act
gave Parliament more power, with the assent procedure giving it a right to veto proposals and the
cooperation procedure giving it equal power with the Council if the Council was not unanimous.
In 1970 and 1975, the Budgetary treaties gave Parliament power over the Community budget.
The Parliament's members, up-until 1980 were national MPs serving part-time in the Parliament.
The Treaties of Rome had required elections to be held once the Council had decided on a voting
system, but this did not happen and elections were delayed until 1979 (see European Parliament
election, 1979). After that, Parliament was elected every five years. In the following 20 years, it
gradually won co-decision powers with the Council over the adoption of legislation, the right to
approve or reject the appointment of the Commission President and the Commission as a whole,
and the right to approve or reject international agreements entered into by the Community.
Court
The Court of Justice of the European Communities was the highest court of on matters of
Community law and was composed of one judge per state with a president elected from among
them. Its role was to ensure that Community law was applied in the same way across all states
and to settle legal disputes between institutions or states. It became a powerful institution as
Community law overrides national law.
Auditors
The fifth institution is the European Court of Auditors, which despite its name had no judicial
powers like the Court of Justice. Instead, it ensured that taxpayer funds from the Community
budget have been correctly spent. The court provided an audit report for each financial year to
the Council and Parliament and gives opinions and proposals on financial legislation and antifraud actions. It is the only institution not mentioned in the original treaties, having been set up
in 1975.[25]
Policy areas
Further information: Three pillars of the European Union
At the time of its abolition, the European Community pillar covered the following areas;[14]
Asylum policy
Border control
Common Agricultural
Policy
Common Fisheries
Policy
Competition
Consumer protection
Employment
Environmental law
EU Citizenship
Healthcare
Immigration policy
Research
Schengen treaty
Social policy
Trade policy
Trans-European
Networks
See also
Delors Commission
European Commission
References
1.
Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the Treaty on the functioning of the
European Union, as renamed by the Lisbon Treaty.
Raymond F. Mikesell, The Lessons of Benelux and the European Coal and Steel
Community for the European Economic Community, The American Economic Review, Vol. 48,
No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Seventieth Annual Meeting of the American Economic
Association (May 1958), pp. 428441
Spaak report
Fifty years of fraternal rivalry news.bbc.co.uk 19/03/07
The 'empty chair' policy
Hoskyns, Catherine; Michael Newman (2000). Democratizing the European Union:
Issues for the twenty-first Century (Perspectives on Democratization). Manchester University
Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-5666-6.
Election of the President of the European Parliament, European Parliament
"Council of Europe's Emblems". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 7
August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
"The European flag: questions and answers". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
Stark, Christine. "Evolution of the European Council: The implications of a permanent
seat" (PDF). Dragoman.org. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
The accession treaty with Greece
The Accession Treaties with Spain and Portugal on CVCE website
Single European Act
What are the three pillars of the EU?, Folketingets EU-Oplysning
"The achievements of the EEC". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
"The European Customs Union". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
Data from Populstat.info
The Belgian and Luxembourgish francs were 1:1 and theoretically interchangeable as a
single currency.
Including East Germany: 80,274,200
"Institutions: The European Commission". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 2007-06-25.
"Merging of the executives". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
"Council of the European Union". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
"European Commission". CVCE. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
"Institutions: The Council of the European Union". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 200706-25.
1.
Further reading
Acocella, Nicola (1992), Trade and direct investment within the EC: The impact of
strategic considerations, in: Cantwell, John (ed.), Multinational investment in modern
Europe, E. Elgar, Cheltenham, ISBN 978-1-8527-8421-8.
External links
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1992
1993
Maastri
cht
Treaty
1997
1999
Amster
dam
Treaty
2001 2007
2003 2009
Nice Lisbon Treaty
Trea
ty
Treaty expired in
2002
European
Union (EU)
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Rules
TREVI
European
Community
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Justice
and
Home
Affairs
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Police and
Judicial Cooperation in
Criminal
Matters
(PJCC)
European
Political
Common Foreign and
Cooperation ( Security Policy (CFSP)
EPC)
Unconsolid
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Treaty terminated in
2011
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