1. THE CREATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES -The first substantive step towards European integration was the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community(ECSC). -The basis was the Schuman Declaration: “Europe will not be made all at once or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements, which first create a de facto solidarity. The coming together of the nations of Europe requires the elimination of the age-old opposition of France and Germany. Any action, which must be taken in the first place, must concern these two countries”

2. France and Germany As the Declaration reveals, European integration was to be led by France and Germany. Both countries stood to gain from ECSC. For Germans it offered a route to the restoration of international respectability France stood to gain from the ECSC simply by its control of the German economy. Not for the first time, the interest of nation state seemed to lie in a partial sacrifice of its sovereignty.

3. Free trade and political objectives In accordance with the Schuman Declaration “The pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic developments as a first step in the federation of Europe” The problem of Europe remained the joint control of those industries, which built German tanks and planes. The ECSC was an expression of free trade. France imposed however a series of more effective non-tariff barriers in order to protect its economy.

4. The Treaty of Paris and the rule of law The ECSC was formally enacted in the Treaty of Paris in 1951. It was founded upon a common market, common objectives and common institutions. The presence of a Court of Justice revealed a determination to use law as a primary tool of integration. Moreover, it ensured that the Community would be supranational, at least in ambition.

5. Towards new Treaties ECSC appeared to work, and pretty soon everyone seemed to want to be involved. At least, the two became a “six”, attracting the interest of Italy and the Benelux countries. On 25 march 1957, the “six” signed the Treaty of Rome, and gave birth to the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Community of Atomic Energy (ECAE). It was a very quick labor. The EEC Treaty was largely a “negative” Treaty, merely concerned with preventing things, such as tariffs, obstacles to free movement and competition abuses.

6. The position of the Soviet Union It mainly concerned with the function of the market mechanism rather than with providing a framework for join intervention to achieve what the market itself cannot do. To a certain extent this is endemic to “free” trade ideology. In response to the Treaty, the Moscow Institute of World Economics and International Relations suggested that “it will result in the curtailment of the sovereignty of the weaker states. It will inevitably limit the rights of Parliaments of these countries to make important social and national decisions”.

7. Supranational and intergovernmental cooperation Schuman and Monnet had hoped that the Treaty would have a snowball effect. There were two primary contradictions that lay at the heart of the new Community. First, there remained the essential tension between the supranational and intergovernmental method. Second, the dependence of the objective to promote general economic growth by the necessity to effect economic equilibrium between member states.

8. The distribution of powers The institutions were the key to European integration. Aside from the ECJ, the Treaty established a Commission, Council of Ministers, and a Parliament. The new Institutions incorporated familiar principles of western constitutionalism. It quickly became apparent that the real power lay with the Council. In reality, the nation states remained overwhelming influence in government.

9. Common agriculture policy The second of the contradictions is the protection of agriculture, or the problem of the uncompetitive French agriculture. Ten years after the Treaty, the Mansholt Plan acknowledged the burden that the protected status of Common Agriculture Policy was placing upon the Community. It also revealed the growing infusion of socialist and supranational ideology in the economic theory of the Community. This plan advocated thoroughgoing reform of the price policy, and a reorientation towards improved production. The proposals were totally ignored.

10. The United Kingdom’s adherence The United Kingdom made repeated applications for associations, in 1957 and 1958. Within months of the Treaty of Rome coming into force it had become apparent to the British government that a mistake had been made. De Gaulle blocked British attempts to join the Community in any capacity. It was the sudden resignation of de Gaulle, in the wake of student riots in 1969, which finally opened the doors. The UK joined in 1972, with Denmark and Ireland.

11. The Maastricht Treaty The early 1980s economic difficulties provided impetus for opening up new markets. The result of this new constitutional initiative was the Single European Act,1986. (SEA). The SEA makes provisions for the completion of the common market. The 1998 Cecchini Report suggested that there was 200 bl ECU to be saved, if only the single market could be completed. At Maastricht, Member States signed a new Treaty on European Union. As ever, political integration was more likely to be effected in the back of economic integration, included this time a common currency.