Chapter 2: The Creation of a European Union (published on BB)
*Why the European communities were created:
- People said: After the Second World War people were anxious to build a peaceful
and more stable future.
- The US saw: a union between various European countries as a means of
countering a perceived communist threat from the eastern bloc and provided
financial aid, known as the Marshall Plan.
*The Council of Europe: in 1947 further co-operation between European
governments; was an intergovernmental organization. It adopted the European
Convention on Human Rights and established the European Court of Human
Rights.
*The first European Community: The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
It arose because:
- The idea (of Jean Monnet and the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman)
included the integration of the French and German coal and steel industries (to
stabilize their relationship).
- The longer term aims of peace and European unity was the focus.
- The capacity of these States to secretly re-arm was reduced.
- Ensuring security on a wider European basis.
- An invitation to participate was offered to other European countries.
The ECSC was finally created by the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1951
(expired in 2002).
This Community had an initial membership of six: France, Germany, Italy,
Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. (“England was able to stand on its
own two feet”(!)).
*Four independent Institutions were created to run the ECSC, the power to control
the coal and steel industries was moved from these participating States to those
Institutions, comprising:
1) A High Authority (=Commission)
2) An Assembly (=European Parliament)
3) A Council
4) A Court of Justice
*Note: The new Community had a supranational, rather than intergovernmental
flavor.
*Further moves towards European Defence and Political Communities failed: they
could not get agreement. It was the Belgian Foreign Minister ‘Paul-Henri Spaak’
that published a report with detailing plans for a further two communities:
- The European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM): The EURATOM Treaty was
signed in Rome in 1957 by the same six countries that previously joined/formed
the ECSC. Why this Community: for the furtherance of atomic energy for peaceful
purposes, together with a commitment to uniform safety standards. The control
of each Member State’s atomic power industries was passed again to four
autonomous Institutions (the Court and the Assembly were shared between the
Communities).
- The European Economic Community (EEC): The EEC Treaty was signed in Rome
(also called Treaty of Rome) by the same six Member States on the same day as
the EURATOM Treaty. The New Community was to be administered by four
independent Institutions again, Member States had delegated the right of
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