The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a six-nation
international organisation serving to unify Western European
coal and
steel production.
It was the first organisation to be based on the principles of
supranationalism. Its creator,
French foreign minister
Robert Schuman, hoped it would
eventually lead to the establishment of the States of Europe being
permanently united in peace. The present
European Union traces its roots directly to
the ECSC. The organisation was first proposed by Schuman on
9 May 1950. The
Schuman Declaration had several distinct
aims.
- It marked the birth of Europe
- It made war between Member States impossible
- It encouraged world peace
- It would transform Europe by a 'step by step' process
(building through sectoral supranational communities) leading to the
unification of Europe democratically, including both East and West
Europe separated by the Iron
Curtain
- It created the world's first supranational institution and
- the world's first international anti-cartel agency
- It created a single market across the Community
- This, starting with the coal and steel sector, would revitalise
the whole European economy by similar community processes
- It would improve the world economy and the developing
countries, such as Africa.
Firstly,
it prevented further war between France
and Germany
and other
States. by tackling the root cause of war.
The ECSC was primarily
conceived with France and Germany in
mind:
The coming together of the nations of Europe requires the
elimination of the age-old opposition of France and Germany.
Any action taken must in the first place concern these two
countries.
The coal and steel industries being essential for the production of
munitions, Schuman believed that by uniting these two industries
across France and Germany under an innovative supranational system
that also included a European anti-
cartel
agency, he could
make war not only unthinkable but
materially impossible. Schuman’s further stated aim was
that:
With increased resources Europe will be able to pursue the
achievement of one of its essential tasks, namely, the development
of the African continent.
Industrial cartels tended to impose
‘restrictive
practices’ on national markets, whereas the ECSC would ensure
the increased production necessary for their ambitions in Africa.
The ECSC
was formally established by the Treaty of Paris , signed not only by
France and West
Germany
, but also by Italy
and the
three Benelux states: Belgium
, Luxembourg
and the Netherlands
. Between these states the ECSC would create
a common market for coal and steel. The ECSC was governed by a
High Authority, checked by bodies
representing governments, MPs and an independent judiciary. The
ECSC was joined by two other similar communities in 1957, with whom
it shared its membership and some institutions. In
1967 all its institutions were merged with that of the
European Economic
Community (EEC, which later became the European Union), but it
retained its own independent identity. However, in 2002 the Treaty
of Paris expired, and with no desire to renew the treaty, all the
ECSC activities and resources were absorbed by the European
Community. During its existence, the ECSC had succeeded in creating
a common market but could not prevent the decline of the coal and
steel industries.
The ECSC
was governed by a 'High Authority', checked and advised by a
Consultative Committee
representing organized civil society (entrepreneurs, workers and
consumer associations), a Council
of Ministers representing governments, a European
Parliament
providing the voice for individual citizens and the
means to censure the High Authority. An independent
judiciary could receive appeals from governments, associations or
from individuals affected by legislation or other measures. These
five institutions defined a
supranational European Community.
The ECSC was joined by two other similar communities in 1957, with
whom it shared its membership and some institutions. In 1967 all
its institutions were merged with that of the
European Economic Community
(EEC, which later became the
European
Union), but it retained its own independent identity. However,
in 2002 the Treaty of Paris expired, and with no desire to renew
the treaty, all the ECSC activities and resources were absorbed by
the European Community. During its existence, the ECSC had
succeeded in creating a common market but could not prevent the
decline of the coal and steel industries.
History
As
Prime Minister and
Foreign Minister, Schuman
was instrumental in turning French policy away from
Gaullist policy of permanent occupation or control
of parts of German territory such as the
Ruhr
or the
Saar. Despite stiff
ultra-nationalist, Gaullist and
communist
opposition, the
French
Assembly voted a number of resolutions in favour of his new
policy of integrating Germany into a Community. The
International Authority for
the Ruhr changed in consequence. Schuman's guiding principles
were moral, based on the equality of States (international
democracy) not power politics of domination.
The
Schuman Declaration of 9 May
1950 (later known as
Europe Day) occurred
after two Cabinet meetings, the proposal became French government
policy. France was thus the first government to agree to share and
grow sovereignty in a supranational Community.
That decision was
based on a text, written and edited by Schuman's friend and
colleague, the Foreign
Ministry lawyer, Paul Reuter and with the assistance of
Jean
Monnet
and Schuman's Directeur de Cabinet, Bernard
Clappier. It laid out a plan for a European Community to
pool the
coal and
steel of
its members in a
common market.
Schuman proposed that "
Franco-German production of coal and
steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority, within
the framework of an organisation open to the participation of the
other countries of Europe." Such an act was intended to help
economic growth and cement peace between France and Germany, who
were
historic enemies. Coal and
steel were vital resources needed for a country to wage war, so
pooling those resources between two such enemies was seen as more
than symbolic. Schuman saw the decision of the French Government on
his proposal as the first example of a democratic and
supranational Community, a new development in
world history. The plan was also seen by some, like Monnet, who
crossed out Reuter's mention of '
supranational' in the draft and inserted
'
federation' as a first step to a
"
European federation".
Political pressures
In
West
Germany, Schuman kept the closest contacts with the new
generation of democratic politicians. Karl Arnold, the Minister President of North
Rhine-Westphalia, the province that included the coal and steel
producing Ruhr, was initially spokesman for German foreign affairs.
He gave a number of speeches and broadcasts on a supranational coal
and steel community at the same time as Robert Schuman began to
propose this Community in 1948 and 1949. The
Social Democratic Party of
Germany, in spite of support from unions and other socialists
in Europe, decided it would oppose the Schuman plan.
Kurt Schumacher's personal distrust of
France, capitalism, and
Konrad
Adenauer aside, he claimed that a focus on integrating with a
"Little Europe of the Six" would override the SPD's prime objective
of German re-unification and thus empower ultra-nationalist and
Communist movements in the West. He also thought the ECSC would end
any hopes of nationalising the steel industry and lock in a Europe
of "cartels, clerics and conservatives." Younger members of the
party like
Carlo
Schmid, were, however, in favor of the Community and pointed to
the long socialist support for the supranational idea.
In France, Schuman had gained strong political and intellectual
support from all sections of the nation and many non-Communist
parties. Notable amongst these were ministerial colleague
Andre Philip and
Edouard Bonnefous, president of the
Foreign Relations Committee, and former prime minister,
Paul Reynaud. Projects for a coal and steel
authority and other supranational communities were formulated in
specialist subcommittees of the Council of Europe in the period
before it became French government policy.
Charles de Gaulle, who was then out of
power, had been an early supporter of "linkages" between economies
- on French terms - and had spoken of a "European confederation"
that would exploit the resources of the
Ruhr in
1945. However, he opposed the ECSC as a
faux (false)
pooling ("
le pool, ce faux semblant") because he
considered it an unsatisfactory "piecemeal approach" to European
unity, and because he considered the French government "too weak"
to dominate the ECSC as he thought proper. De Gaulle also felt that
the ECSC had insufficient supra-national authority because the
Assembly was not ratified by a European referendum, and he did not
accept
Raymond Aron's contention that
the ECSC was intended as a movement away from United States
domination. Consequently, de Gaulle and his followers in the
RPF voted against
ratification in the
lower
house of the French Parliament.
Despite these attacks and those from the extreme Left, the ECSC
found substantial public support and was established. It gained
strong majority votes in all eleven chambers of the parliaments of
the Six, as well as approval among associations and European public
opinion. In 1950 many had thought another war was inevitable. The
steel and coal interests, however, were quite vocal in their
opposition. The Council of Europe, created by a proposal of
Schuman's first government in May 1948, helped articulate European
public opinion and gave the Community idea positive support.
Treaties
The 100 article long
Treaty of
Paris which established the ECSC was signed on 18 April 1951 by
"the
inner six": France, West Germany,
Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The ECSC was the
first international organisation to be based on
supranational principles and was, through the
establishment of a common market for coal and steel, intended to
expand the economies, increase employment, and raise the standard
of living within the Community. The market was also intended to
progressively rationalise the distribution of high level production
whilst ensuring stability and employment. The common market for
coal was opened on 10 February 1953, and for steel on 1 May 1953.
Upon taking effect the ECSC gradually replaced the
International Authority for
the Ruhr. On 11 August 1952, the United States was the first
country (aside from ECSC members) to recognise the Community and
stated it would now deal with the ECSC on coal and steel matters,
establishing its delegation in Brussels. President Monnet responded
by choosing Washington D.C. as the site of the ECSC's first
external presence. The headline of the delegation's first bulletin
read "Towards a Federal Government of Europe".
Six years after the Treaty of Paris, the
Treaties of Rome were signed by the six
ECSC members, creating the
European Economic Community
(EEC) and the
European
Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or 'Euratom'). These Communities
were based, with some adjustments, on the ECSC. The Treaties of
Rome were to be in force indefinitely, unlike the Treaty of Paris
which was to expire after fifty years. These two new Communities
worked on the creation of a
customs
union and
nuclear power community
respectively. The Rome treaties were hurried through just before de
Gaulle seized power and proclaimed the Fifth Republic. Despite his
efforts to 'chloroform' the Communities, their fields rapidly
expanded and the EEC became the most important tool for political
unification, overshadowing the ECSC.
Merger and expiration
Despite
being separate legal entities, the
ECSC, EEC and Euratom initially shared the Common
Assembly and the European Court of Justice,
although the Councils
and the High
Authority/Commissions
remained separate. To avoid duplication, the
Merger Treaty merged these separate
bodies of the ECSC and Euratom with the EEC. The EEC later became
one of the
three
pillars of the present day
European
Union.
The Treaty of Paris was frequently amended as the EC and EU evolved
and
expanded. With
the treaty due to expire in 2002, debate began at the beginning of
the 1990s on what to do with it. It was eventually decided that it
should be left to expire. The areas covered by the ECSC's treaty
were transferred to the
Treaty of
Rome and the financial loose ends and the ECSC research fund
were dealt with via a protocol of the
Treaty of Nice. The treaty finally expired on
23 July 2002.
That day, the ECSC flag was
lowered for the final time outside the European
Commission in Brussels
and replaced with the EU
flag.
Timeline of treaties
Institutions
The institutions of the ECSC were the
High Authority, the
Common Assembly, the
Special Council of Ministers
and the
Court of Justice. A
Consultative
Committee was established alongside the High Authority, as a
fifth institution representing civil society. This was the first
international representation of consumers in history. These
institutions were merged in 1967 with those of the European
Community, which then governed the ECSC, except for the Committee
which continued to be independent until the expiration of the
Treaty of Paris in 2002.
The Treaty stated that the
location of the
institutions would be decided by common accord of the members,
yet the issue was hotly contested.
As a temporary compromise, the
institutions were provisionally located in the City of
Luxembourg
, despite the Assembly being based in Strasbourg
.
High Authority
The High
Authority (the predecessor to the European Commission) was a nine-member executive body which governed
the community. France, Germany and Italy appointed two
members each to the Authority and the three smaller members
appointed one each. These eight members then themselves appointed a
ninth person to be
President of the High
Authority.
Despite being appointed by agreement of national governments acting
together, the members were to pledge not to represent their
national interest, but rather took
a oath to defend the general interests of the Community as a whole.
Their independence was aided by members being barred from having
any occupation outside the Authority or having any business
interests (paid or unpaid) and for three years after they left
office. To further ensure impartiality, one third of the membership
was to be renewed every two years, (article 10).
The Authority's principle innovation was its supranational
character. It had a broad area of competence to ensure the
objectives of the treaty were met and that the common market
functioned smoothly. The High Authority could issue three
types of legal
instruments:
Decisions, which were entirely
binding laws;
Recommendations, which had
binding aims but the methods were left to
member states; and Opinions, which had no
legal force.
Up to the merger in 1967, the authority had five Presidents
followed by an interim President serving for the final days.
Other institutions
The
Common Assembly (which later became the European
Parliament) was composed of 78 representatives and exercised
supervisory powers over the executive High Authority. The
Common Assembly representatives were to be national MPs delegated
each year by their Parliaments to the Assembly, or directly elected
'by universal suffrage' (article 21). Though in practice it was the
former as there was no requirement for elections until the
Treaties of Rome and no actual election
until 1979 as
Rome required agreement in the Council on the
electoral system first. However, to
emphasise that the chamber was not a traditional international
organisation composed of representatives of national governments,
the Treaty of Paris used the term "
representatives of the
peoples". The Assembly was not originally specified in the
Schuman Plan because it was hoped the
Community would use the institutions (Assembly, Court) of the
Council of Europe. When this became impossible because of British
objections, separate institutions had to be created. The Assembly
was intended as a democratic counter-weight and check to the High
Authority, to advise but also to have power to sack the Authority
for incompetence, injustice, corruption or fraud. The first
President (akin
to a
Speaker) was
Paul-Henri Spaak.
The Special Council of Ministers (equivalent to the current
Council of the European
Union) was composed of representatives of national governments.
The
Presidency
was held by each state for a period of three months, rotating
between them in alphabetical order. One of its key aspects was the
harmonisation of the work of the High Authority and that of
national governments, which were still responsible for the state's
general economic policies. The Council was also required to issue
opinions on certain areas of work of the High Authority. Issues
relating only to coal and steel were in the exclusive domain of the
High Authority and in these areas the Council (unlike the modern
Council) could only act as a scrutiny on the Authority. However,
areas outside coal and steel required the consent of the
Council.
The Court of Justice was to ensure the observation of ECSC law
along with the interpretation and application of the Treaty. The
Court was composed of seven judges, appointed by common accord of
the national governments for six years. There were no requirements
that the judges had to be of a certain nationality, simply that
they be qualified and that their independence be beyond doubt. The
Court was assisted by two Advocates General.
The
Consultative Committee (similar to the Economic and
Social Committee
) had between 30 and 50 members equally divided
between producers, workers, consumers and dealers in the coal and
steel sector. Again, there was no national quotas and the
treaty requires representatives of European associations to
organise their own democratic procedures. They were to establish
rules to make their membership fully 'representative' for
democratic organised civil society. Members were appointed for two
years and were not bound by any mandate or instruction of the
organisations which appointed them. The Committee had a plenary
assembly, bureau and a president. Again, the required democratic
procedures were not introduced and nomination of these members
remained in the hands of national ministers. The High Authority was
obliged to consult the Committee in certain cases where it was
appropriate and to keep it informed. The Consultative Committee
remained separate (despite the merger of the other institutions)
until 2002, when the Treaty expired and its duties were taken over
by the Economic and Social Committee (ESC). Despite its
independence, the Committee did cooperate with the ESC when they
were consulted on the same issue.
Achievements and failures
Its mission (article 2) was general: to 'contribute to the
expansion of the economy, the development of employment and the
improvement of the standard of living' of its citizens. In terms of
coal and steel production, the Community had little effect with the
sectors respectively decreased and increased relative to the world
trends. Trade between members did increase (tenfold for coal) which
saved members' money by not having to import resources from the
United States, particularly where there were cutbacks in one state.
The High Authority also issued 280 modernization loans to the
industry which helped the industry to improve output and reduce
costs. Costs were further reduced by the abolition of tariffs at
borders.
Among the ECSC's greatest achievements are those on welfare issues.
Some mines, for example were clearly unsustainable without
government subsidies. Some miners had extremely poor housing. Over
15 years it financed 112,500 flats for workers, paying
US$1,770 per flat, enabling workers to
buy a home they could not have otherwise afforded. The ECSC also
paid half the occupational redeployment costs of those workers who
have lost their jobs as coal and steel facilities began to close
down. Combined with regional redevelopment aid the ECSC spent $150
million creating 100,000 jobs, a third of which were for unemployed
coal and steel workers. The welfare guarantees invented by the ECSC
were extended to workers outside the coal and steel sector by some
of its members.
Far more important than creating Europe's first social and regional
policy, it is argued that the ECSC introduced European peace. It
involved the continent's first European tax. This was a flat tax, a
levy on production with a maximum rate of one percent. Given that
the European Community countries are now experiencing the longest
period of peace in more than two thousand years, this has been
described as the cheapest tax for peace in history. Another world
war, or 'world suicide' as Schuman called this threat in 1949, was
avoided. In October 1953 Schuman said that the possibility of
another European war had been eliminated. Reasoning had to prevail
among member states.
However the ECSC failed to achieve several fundamental aims of the
Treaty of Paris. It was hoped the ECSC would prevent a resurgence
of large coal and steel groups such as the
Konzerne, which
helped
Adolf Hitler rise to power. In
the Cold War trade-offs, the cartels and major companies
re-emerged, leading to apparent
price
fixing (another element that was meant to be tackled). With a
democratic supervisory system the worst aspects of past abuse were
avoided with the anti-cartel powers of the Authority, the first
international anti-cartel agency in the world. Efficient firms were
allowed to expand into a European market without undue domination.
Oil, gas, electricity became natural competitors to coal and also
broke cartel powers. Furthermore, with the move to oil, the
Community failed to define a proper energy policy. The Euratom
treaty was largely stifled by de Gaulle and the European
governments refused the suggestion of an Energy Community involving
electricity and other vectors that was suggested at Messina in
1955. In a time of high inflation and monetary instability ECSC
also fell short of ensuring an upward equalisation of pay of
workers within the market. These failures could be put down to
overambition in a short period of time, or that the goals were
merely political posturing to be ignored. The greatest achievements
of the European Coal and Steel Community lie in its revolutionary
democratic concepts of a supranational Community. This is a
potential that has yet to be fully explored and exploited.
See also
References
-
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/528429/Robert-Schuman
- What were Schuman's purposes in creating a European
Community?
- http://www.robert-schuman.org/declaration_9mai.php
- http://www.robert-schuman.org/declaration_9mai.php
- http://www.robert-schuman.org/declaration_9mai.php
- http://www.schuman.info/9MayProp.htm#war
- http://www.robert-schuman.org/declaration_9mai.php
- http://www.robert-schuman.org/declaration_9mai.php
- Schuman's speeches at the United nations 1948,
1949
- Schuman's speech in Strasbourg calling for Europe to be
built on supranational principles.
- Office of the US High Commissioner for Germany
Office of Public Affairs, Public Relations Division, APO 757, US
Army, January 1952 "Plans for terminating international
authority for the Ruhr" , pp. 61-62
- Washington Delegation History, Delegation of
the European Commission to the United States
Further reading
External links
-
rtsp://rtsppress.cec.eu.int/Archive/video/mpeg/i000679/i000679.rm
(insert address into RealPlayer) Common
Destiny, a period film explaining the Coal and Steel Community,
Europa
- Treaty constituting the European Coal and Steel
Community, European
NAvigator
- Schuman
info
- The institutions of the European Coal and Steel
Community, European NAvigator
- France,
Germany and the Struggle for the War-making Natural Resources of
the Rhineland, American University
- Ruhr Delegation of the United States of America,
Council of Foreign Ministers American Embassy Moscow, March 24,
1947, Truman Library
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