European Coal and Steel Community - Essay Example

Your The Six Countries' Surrender of Elements of Sovereignty Introduction The surrender of the German force tothe Allied powers in the West Europe and to the Russians in the east on May 8, 1945 was celebrated by the world. This has been the momentous end of the European phase of the war so that May 8 is celebrated as the VE Day - Victory Day in Europe. The result is the liberation of 8358 Australians who were taken captive by the Germans and the Italians. Many were free from the grueling months of fighting (HighBeam Research, Inc.). The aftermath of World War II undoubtedly includes ruined infrastructure, damaged machineries, injured work force and broken economy. There was a dire need to build what was ruined and Europe has the choice whether to pursue this as an integrated region or as individual countries. As to the integration, there were two political and economic models invented at that time - the long history of nation building wherein economic integration follows political unification and the model of Zolverrein where political unification follows economic integration (Lecture, Topic 2: From Post War Reconstruction to the European Coal and Steel Community) Main Body One of the aftermath of World War II is the European Coal and Steel Community, a moved that strengthened both the economic and political ties of the surviving European countries. "The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty was signed in Paris in 1951" (Europa.eu). It involved the Benelux countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands together with West Germany, France and Italy. Its goal was to "organize a free movement of coal and free access to sources of production" (Europa.eu). One of the unique aspect of the integration was the establishment of a common High Authority which supervised the market including the competition rules and price transparency. The ECSC Treaty became the "origin of the institutions as we know them today" (Europa.eu). The ECSC was the first community organization that was created as an aftermath of the 2nd World War. The devastation brought by the war needed economic reconstruction of the European continent and attaint lasting peace. Since coal and steel were the basic industry of the two countries France and Germany, "the idea of pooling Franco-German coal and steel production came about" (Europa.eu). Thus the the European Coal and Steel Community was formed. Obviously, the war has made both countries realized that a truce between them would help establish both their political and economic health. Thus the strong necessity for a truce led to the acceptance of a the necessity to submit some elements of their sovereignty to a Higher Authority. "The underlying political objective was to strengthen Franco-German solidarity, banish the spectre of war and open the way to European integration" (Europa.eu). The Creation of the European Coal and Steel Community The idea of an integrated coal and steel industry was first toyed by Jean Monnet, the head of the French Commissariat du Plan for the reconstruction of the French economy, and the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman. On May 1950, Monnet and Schuman "published a declaration calling for a new structure to control the resurgent heavy industries in France and Germany" (Renner). The idea that Monnet and Schuman conveyed in the declaration necessitated a new institution that "have a political life independent of the existing governments - at least for the range of powers which a capitalist state at that time exercised over its coal and steel industry" (Renner). The idea developed by Monnet and Schuman envisioned new institutions that should The Schuman Plan was not aloof of power politics, as observers at the time noted (Parker 1952). Their proposal was not a conventional international organization which are usually led by committees of ministers. According to Jean Monnet in his Mmoirs, it was the second-best indirect solution after the attempt to promote direct routes aimed to eliminate risk of war has failed (Schmitter 2005, 256-257). Monnet believed that "the integration of two industrial sectors would be necessary in the event of any future conflict" (Renner). The proposal of the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, in his May 9 1950 declaration was a coal and steel production under "a common high authority within the framework of an organization in which other European countries could participate" (Renner). Although, this was a new organizational system, the six countries France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands accepted the challenge and began their negotiation. The six countries negotiated for eleven months and were able to conclude and signed the Treaty of Paris on April 18, 1951, thereby marking the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) (Renner). "At last, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community was signed in Paris on 18 April 1951 and entered into force on 24 July 1952, with a validity period limited to 50 years. The Treaty expired on 23 July 2002. The common market advocated by the Treaty opened on 10 February 1953 for coal, iron ore and scrap and on 1 May 1953 for steel" (Europa.eu) The Structure Why the six countries surrendered elements of their sovereignty in the signing of the Treaty in Paris will be largely discussed in this section, although we have had enough enough introduction as to the current situation in Europe that time which led to this decision. The treaty has four divisions: "The first dealt with the European Coal and Steel Community, the second with the institutions of the Community, the third with economic and social provisions and the fourth with general provisions" (Europa.eu). The Shuman proposal was that the "Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of other countries of Europe" so that "the pooling of of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic development as a first step in the federation of Europe, and will change the destinies of those regions which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war, of which they have been the most constant victims" (Lecture, Topic 2: From Post War Reconstruction to the European Coal and Steel Community). This arrangement necessitated that the founding states surrender some of their traditional powers to the power of the newly established higher authority which was a supranational institution. The six countries "gave up the right to impose tariffs and quotas on the imports and exports of coal and steel from and to each other, the right to grant subsidies, to set up a system of favouring consumers in their own countries over consumers in any of the other five countries, et cetera" (Renner). With the treaty, the six countries were still given the free movement of workers. They let go of the power to fix prices, the power to allocate coal and steel products, neither to control production of coal and steel. The countries however, tried strategically to retain all eh sovereign powers relating to their coal and steel trade with outside countries (Vernon 1953, 190). Although the strategic importance of European coal and steel in the 1950s turned out to be diminishing, the founding of the ECSC nevertheless was the first step towards Franco-German reconciliation. The novel feature of the ECSC was that control of a sector would no longer be exercised at the national level but by a so-called High Authority. The German mines and factories would pass from an Allied regulatory regime to the oversight of a new Authority. The High Authority, in turn, was granted the right to consult not only governments but also, according to the ECSC-Treaty, "the various interesting parties (enterprises, workers, consumers, and dealers)". Moreover, some of the powers it was granted by the treaty recall the mechanisms of a dirigiste state: in case of a decline in demand or a serious shortage of coal or steel products, for example, the Community gained the right to impose a system of coal or steel allocations (Vernon 1953, 198). The possible reasons for this are as follows: "As a consequence of the conflicts of the 1990s, stability in the Balkans became the priority of EU policies. The EU's intention was to demonstrate its ability to promote post-conflict stabilization and rehabilitation" (Renner). Also, they believed that their internal consolidation is a necessity to establish credibility of their foreign policy. "The EU member states are thus highly interested in having a stable and predictable political and regulatory environment in the region" (Renner). Europe had also planned of developing a South East Europe Regional Energy Market and the pursuit of this was a regional approach (Renner). Conclusion "Although the strategic importance of European coal and steel in the 1950s turned out to be diminishing, the founding of the ECSC nevertheless was the first step towards Franco-German reconciliation" (Renner). The economic impact of the European Coal and Steel Community was inferior compared to the improvement in political relations of the entire region that it achieved. The importance of the recovery of France-German political relations and the growing popularity and acceptance of the high authority were the most essential impact of the ECSC. "Despite the rather dismal performance of the coal-steel pool, the success of the ECSC was the transfer of sovereign power to an international body and the triumph of the supranational principle" (Renner). Works Cited Europa.eu. Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC Treaty. 31 January 2005. 21 November 2009 . HighBeam Research, Inc. 21 November 2009 . "Lecture, Topic 2: From Post War Reconstruction to the European Coal and Steel Community." n.d. Parker, William N. (1952). The Schuman Plan. A Preliminary Prediction, in: International Organization 6(3), 381-395. Renner, Stephan. "The Energy Community of Southeast Europe: A neo-functionalist project of regional integration." European Integration online Papers Vol. 13 (2009): 2-15. Schmitter, Philippe (2005). Ernst B. Haas and the legacy of neofunctionalism, in: Journal of European Public Policy 12(2), 255-273. Vernon, Raymond (1953). The Schuman Plan: Sovereign Powers of the European Coal and Steel Community, in: The American Journal of International Law 47(2), 183-202. Read More