The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and European Defence Community (EDC) Treaties

Abstract

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) marks a milestone in international cooperation as it represents the first supranational treaty organisation in history: The national governments of France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries decided to delegate domestic decisionmaking authority in the coal and steel sectors to a new supranational organisation, the High Authority (Thiemeyer, 1998, p. 6). The plan to pool coal and steel resources and create a High Authority was presented to the public by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, on 9 May 1950. Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet, the ‘mastermind’ behind the Schuman Plan, referred to the plan as a ‘bold, constructive act’ and François Duchêne, author of a much-celebrated Monnet biography, referred to the contents of the plan as a ‘break with the past’ in the light of its novel supranational quality (Duchêne, 1994, p. 205). One central objective of the plan was to alleviate French concerns that post-war Germany would employ its regained industrial strength as a threat to French autonomy, both in economic and security terms. These concerns arose in particular against the backdrop of imminent German economic recovery and the prospect that Germany would be ‘freed’ from allied oversight. In June 1950, the intergovernmental negotiations among the ‘Six’ to implement the Schuman Plan were launched. The Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community was signed in April 1951 and, after successful ratification in France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries, it entered into force on 24 July 1952.