|
History 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 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. Presidents of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community, 1952-1967 Timeline Evolution of the Structures of European Union See also | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
 |
|
| |