European Coal and Steel Community
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Members of the European Coal and Steel Community |
The
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded in
1951 (
Treaty of Paris), by
France,
West Germany,
Italy,
Belgium,
Luxembourg and the
Netherlands to pool the
steel and
coal resources of its member-states.
It was the fulfillment of a plan developed by a French economist
Jean Monnet, publicized by the French foreign minister
Robert Schuman. It was also strongly supported by the
United States.
The Treaty of Paris entered into force on
23 July 1952, and unlike the Treaty establishing the
European Community, provided for a limited duration of only 50 years. Therefore the ECSC
ceased to exist in 23 July 2002, and its responsibilities and assets (excepting research funds, see below) were then assumed by the EC. (This assumption was provided for by a
protocol to the
Treaty of Nice, but as Member States failed to ratify the Treaty in time, a separate
Council Decision (2002/596/EC) with provisions for the end of the ECSC was
passed. Once the Treaty of Nice had been
ratified, this decision was
superseded by Council Decision 2003/76/EC.)
Steel had played an important part in arms production in
World War II and was a fundamental resource of the western European states. The aim was therefore a common program of post-war production and consumption of steel and coal. The project was also intended to show some cooperation and reconciliation between France and Germany in the aftermath of the war. There was a desire to unite the countries by controlling steel and coal which were fundamental to war industries.
The ECSC introduced a common free steel and coal market, with freely set market prices, and without import/export duties or subsidies. However, a transition period allowed the different economies to reach this situation over about one year.
A High Authority of the ECSC, consisting of nine members, sat in Luxembourg until 1967. It was originally presided over by French prominent euro-federalist Jean Monnet, who hoped European institutions such as the ECSC would eventually constitute supra-national organisations, above the sovereignty of individual European states. The High Authority in 1967 joined with the commissions of the EEC and Euratom to constitute a single multi-purpose commission. The ECSC also included a council of ministers, an assembly, and a court of arbitration.
The ECSC served as the foundation for the later development of the
European Economic Community (later renamed the
European Community by the
Maastricht Treaty), and then the
European Union.
Not all ECSC activity ceased after July 2002. The Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) continued in existence, since its funds had been sourced from industry and could not be redistributed to member States. The RFCS is supported by invested capital of €1.6 Billion, which was originally levied from the European coal and steel industries to support training, research and restructuring. The investment provides recurrent funds of about €55-60 Million per year. The RFCS funds and allocations are administered by Unit 5 of Direction G (Technologies Industrielles) of DG Research, a Directorate-General within the European Commission. The deployment of the RFCS is overseen by the Coal & Steel Committee (COSCO), the members of which are national representatives. By Council decision, the recurrent funds are partitioned at 27.2% to coal research and 72.8% to steel research.
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Jean Monnet (
France) 1952-1955
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René Mayer (
France) 1955-1958
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Paul Finet (
Belgium) 1958-1959
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Piero Malvestiti (
Italy) 1959-1963
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Dino Del Bo (
Italy) 1963-1967
Evolution of the Structures of European Union*
History of the European Union*
Schuman Declaration*
Treaty constituting the European Coal and Steel Community European NAvigator
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The institutions of the European Coal and Steel Community European NAvigator
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EU Founders*
France, Germany and the Struggle for the War-making Natural Resources of the Rhineland*
Pas de Pagaille! Time Magazine article from Jul. 28, 1947.
