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The journey to the EEC |
This second stage covers the period between the coming into force of the ECSC Treaty to the foundation of the European Economic Community (EEC). Following the failure of ambitious plans to create a European Defence Community in 1954 - which would also have meant the creation of a European Political Community or supranational cooperation in a highly political and sensitive area, the question was "what now"? The next move was to come from the governments of the Benelux nations which suggested taking additional steps toward integration, but at an economic level.
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1955: Messina Conference |
ECSC foreign ministers discussed proposals forwarded by the Benelux states in the summer of 1955 at a conference in Messina; the plans were given a warm reception. A committee of government representatives was set up chaired by the Belgium foreign minister, Paul-Henri Spaak, who was asked to prepare a report. Great Britain was also invited to attend the talks, but it withdrew in November 1955 after failing to see a way of realizing its ideas on creating a loose free trade zone.
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1956: Spaak report |
The Spaak Report was made public in April 1956 and formed the basis of the negotiations which took place later in that year. These negotiations and the process of balancing national interests, especially between France and Germany, proved to be very difficult at times.
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1957: Signing of the Treaties of Rome;
foundation of the EEC |
An agreement was found, however, and the treaties drawn up to establish a European Economic Community (EEC) and a European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) were signed in Rome on the 25th of March 1957 - hence the name Treaties of Rome - by the six member states of the ECSC (see photo left). These Treaties came into force on the 1st of January 1958.
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Aspects of the EEC Treaty
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Joint politics the focus |
I would now like to provide a brief summary about the contents of this much more significant EEC Treaty and, for the moment, would like to limit the scope of this overview of 60 years of European integration to it. The objective at the forefront of the Treaty was the creation of a Common Market , meaning the complete removal of trade barriers between member states including - and absolutely necessary for it to work - the setting up of joint external tariffs and a common trade policy. Indeed, the majority of the Treaty's provisions were concerned with achieving this. In contrast, some of the other provisions such as those concerned with coordinating economic and currency policy, as well as others in areas such as agricultural, transport and certain aspects of social policy remained very general indeed.
Compared with the usual constitutional organisation found in national political systems, this new arrangement represented something completely different. If very little is to be found about policies or individual areas in the constitutions of national political systems, these regulations form the core of the EEC Treaty.
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An overview of EEC Treaty aspects |
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Institutions |
Of course, the Treaty also contains traditional constitutional regulations in particular in areas relating to the creation of the institutional structure for the new Community and the relationship between bodies. As far as the Institutions are concerned, however, I will only be mentioning a few aspects here, since we will be taking a comprehensive look at this area in Basic Course 4.
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Postponing a shift in powers in favour of the member states |
The ECSC Treaty provided the basis for institutional structure. This is reflected by the fact that the titles for these institutions remained the same (Council of Ministers, Assembly, Court of Justice). A Commission was set up to replace the High Authority, which was initiate and implement common policies and which was also given several independent powers. As far as the relationship between the Commission and the Council of Ministers was concerned, there was a significant transferral of powers in favour of the Council, meaning, of course, that the member states had a greater say.
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Stage 2 summary |
As far as the main influencing factors in which we are particularly interested are concerned, at the end of stage 2 it can be said that the direct influence of the Second World War and connected to this the desire to secure peace began to fade into the background. While this was happening, however, the interests of autonomous states began to move more and more into the foreground. This was demonstrated in several ways such as the shift in power away from the Commission in favour of the Council of Ministers, which represented the nation states in the institutional structure of the newly founded EEC. |
