European Coal And Steel Community Essay ⋆ Business Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a supranational organization instituted under the 1951 Treaty of Paris, which provided a framework for the pooling of coal and steel resources across member countries. The ECSC was designed to make future military conflict between France and Germany materially impossible through the integration of heavy industry, while contributing to the economic development and political stability of postwar Europe. A new range of political institutions were established under the treaty to oversee the operation of the organization, and the ECSC can be regarded as both the first attempt at a supranational organization and the forerunner to the European Union. The organization had considerable success in the modernization of production, advancement of commercial policy, and management of industrial dislocation before the expiration of the Treaty in 2002.

The formation of the ECSC was spurred by the efforts of the French foreign minister Robert Schuman, who believed that a unified Franco-German coal and steel industry would stand at the heart of a peaceful and prosperous Europe. The treaty establishing the ECSC was signed in Paris by France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on April 18, 1951, with the common market for coal, iron ore, and scrap metals coming into force on February 10, 1953, and the common market for steel on May 1, 1953. The mission statement of the ECSC was set out in Article 2 of the treaty: to contribute to economic expansion, higher employment, and an improvement in living standards while ensuring rational distribution, high productivity, and the avoidance of economic disturbances in member states. In order to fulfill these objectives, a new range of supranational institutions were established: the High Authority, the Assembly, a Council of Ministers, and a Court of Justice.

The High Authority was the independent executive committee, composed of nine members from the six participating countries, whose ultimate responsibility was to ensure treaty obligations were fulfilled. The High Authority obtained funding for the ECSC’s administrative costs and schemes from a levy placed on coal and steel production, while it had powers to gather information pertinent to the execution of its duty from member states and enforce sanctions against those states remiss in their obligations. The Assembly, composed of 78 representatives of the national parliaments, held supervisory power over the operation of the ECSC while the Council, including a representative from each participating country, acted as the harmonizing agent between the actions of the High Authority and the national economic policies of member states. The Court of Justice, composed of seven judges appointed for six-year terms, ensured that the law was observed with regard to the implementation of the treaty while protecting individuals and enterprises against any administrative malpractices by the ECSC.

The High Authority acted upon the information ascertained from undertakings and market data to decide commercial policy, and the necessity of any intervention through the establishment of production quotas, fixed prices, or customs duties. The ECSC also tried to prevent collusion between member firms, while removing restrictions upon the free movement of labor between member states. From the levy imposed upon production, the ECSC was able to provide financing for research and development (R&D), technical modernization, and investment loans. The organization also provided significant funding for the construction of employee housing and the compensation and retraining of workers displaced from the sector due to general industrial decline.

The ECSC enjoyed considerable success in the main areas of policy despite operating in a period of relative industrial decline in western Europe. Although certain failures were apparent in the organization’s inability to prevent economic concentration between member firms and equalize wage rates between countries, these are juxtaposed against significant social benefits accrued from the retraining and redeployment of displaced labor. The ECSC treaty expired on July 23, 2002, with provision being made for the transfer of the activities of the organization to the European Community. The 2001 Treaty of Nice provided for the transfer of all remaining funds to the European Community for the purpose of R&D in the coal and steel industries.

Bibliography:

Desmond Dinan, Origins and Evolution of the European Union (Oxford University Press, 2006);
European Commission, and Statistical Office of the European Communities, 50 Years of the ECSC Treaty: Coal and Steel Statistics: Data 1952–2000: Pocketbook. Theme 4—Industry, Trade, and Services (Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002);
John Gillingham, Coal, Steel, and the Rebirth of Europe, 1945–1955: The Germans and French from Ruhr Conflict to Economic Community (Cambridge University Press, 1991);
Donald Hancock, Politics in Europe (CQ Press, 2007);
Jens-Uwe Wunderlich, Regionalism, Globalisation and International Order: Europe and Southeast Asia (Ashgate, 2007).

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