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The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation which
aimed to bring about economic integration among its member states. It was
created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957.[1] Upon the formation of
the European Union (EU) in 1993, the EEC was incorporated and renamed as
the European Community (EC). In 2009 the EC's institutions were absorbed
into the EU's wider framework and the community ceased to exist.
The Community's initial aim was to bring about economic integration,
including a common market and customs union, among its six founding
members: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West
Germany. It gained a common set of institutionsalong with the European
Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community (EURATOM) as one of the European Communities under the
1965 Merger Treaty (Treaty of Brussels). In 1993, a complete single
market was achieved, known as the internal market, which allowed for the
free movement of goods, capital, services, and people within the EEC. In
1994, the internal market was formalised by the EEA agreement. This
agreement also extended the internal market to include most of the member
states of the European Free Trade Association, forming the European
Economic Area covering 15 countries.
Upon the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, the EEC was
renamed the European Community to reflect that it covered a wider range
than economic policy. This was also when the three European Communities,
including the EC, were collectively made to constitute the first of
the three pillars of the European Union, which the treaty also founded.
The EC existed in this form until it was abolished by the 2009 Treaty of
Lisbon, which incorporated the EC's institutions into the EU's wider
framework and provided that the EU would "replace and succeed the European
Community".
The EEC was also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking
countries and sometimes referred to as the European Community even before
it was officially renamed as such in 1993.
Contents
[hide]
1History
o 1.1Background
o 1.2Creation and early years
o 1.3Enlargement and elections
o 1.4Towards Maastricht
o 1.5European Community
2Aims and achievements
3Members
4Institutions
o 4.1Background
o 4.2Council
o 4.3Commission
o 4.4Parliament
o 4.5Court
o 4.6Auditors
5Policy areas
6See also
7EU evolution timeline
8Notes and references
o 8.1Notes
o 8.2References
9Further reading
10External links
History[edit]
Further information: History of the European Union
Background[edit]
In 1951, the Treaty of Paris was signed, creating the European Coal and
Steel Community(ECSC). This was an international community based
on supranationalism and international law, designed to help the economy of
Europe and prevent future war by integrating its members.
In the aim of creating a federal Europe two further communities were
proposed: a European Defence Community and a European Political Community.
While the treaty for the latter was being drawn up by the Common Assembly,
the ECSC parliamentary chamber, the proposed defense community was
rejected by the French Parliament. ECSC President Jean Monnet, a leading
figure behind the communities, resigned from the High Authority in protest
and began work on alternative communities, based on economic integration
rather than political integration.[2] After the Messina Conference in
1955, Paul Henri Spaak was given the task to prepare a report on the idea
of a customs union. The so-called Spaak Report of the Spaak
Committee formed the cornerstone of the intergovernmental negotiations at
Val Duchesse conference centre in 1956.[3] Together with the Ohlin
Report the Spaak Report would provide the basis for the Treaty of Rome.
In 1956, Paul Henri Spaak led the Intergovernmental Conference on the
Common Market and Euratom at the Val Duchesse conference centre, which
prepared for the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The conference led to the
signature, on 25 March 1957, of the Treaty of Rome establishing a European
Economic Community.
Creation and early years[edit]
The resulting communities were the European Economic Community (EEC) and
the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM or sometimes EAEC). These
were markedly less supranational than the previous communities,[citation
needed] due to protests from some countries that their sovereignty was being
infringed (however there would still be concerns with the behaviour of

the Hallstein Commission). The first formal meeting of the Hallstein
Commission was held on 16 January 1958 at the Chateau de Val-Duchesse. The
EEC (direct ancestor of the modern Community) was to create a customs
union while Euratom would promote co-operation in the nuclear
power sphere. The EEC rapidly became the most important of these and
expanded its activities. One of the first important accomplishments of the
EEC was the establishment (1962) of common price levels for agricultural
products. In 1968, internal tariffs (tariffs on trade between member
nations) were removed on certain products.
Another crisis was triggered in regard to proposals for the financing of
the Common Agricultural Policy, which came into force in 1962. The
transitional period whereby decisions were made by unanimity had come to
an end, and majority-voting in the Council had taken effect. Then-French
President Charles de Gaulle's opposition to supranationalism and fear of
the other members challenging the CAP led to an "empty chair policy"
whereby French representatives were withdrawn from the European
institutions until the French veto was reinstated. Eventually, a
compromise was reached with the Luxembourg compromise on 29 January 1966
whereby a gentlemen's agreement permitted members to use a veto on areas
of national interest.[4][5]
On 1 July 1967 when the Merger Treaty came into operation, combining the
institutions of the ECSC and Euratom into that of the EEC, they already
shared a Parliamentary Assembly and Courts. Collectively they were known
as the European Communities. The Communities still had independent
personalities although were increasingly integrated. Future treaties
granted the community new powers beyond simple economic matters which had
achieved a high level of integration. As it got closer to the goal of
political integration and a peaceful and united Europe, what Mikhail
Gorbachev described as a Common European Home.

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The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation which

infringed (however there would still be concerns with the behaviour of

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