French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposes placing Franco-German coal and steel production under a shared “High Authority,” open to other European countries. The goal is to make another major war in Western Europe less likely by linking key war-related industries through joint rules. This proposal becomes the political starting point for the first European Community.
Six countries (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) sign the Treaty of Paris, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The treaty sets up shared institutions, including a supranational executive (the “High Authority”) and a common assembly. It turns the Schuman idea into a binding legal framework.
The Treaty of Paris takes effect, formally bringing the ECSC into operation for a 50-year period. This is an early step in building a shared European market under common rules, starting with coal and steel. It also creates a model of institutions that later European projects will adapt.
The Court of Justice, created under the ECSC framework, holds its first formal sitting in Luxembourg. A common court matters because it helps ensure that Community rules are applied consistently across member states. This strengthens the idea that shared economic rules need shared legal enforcement.
The same six states sign the Treaties of Rome, creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The EEC aims to build a common market (including a customs union), expanding integration beyond coal and steel. This broadens European cooperation from one sector to a much wider economic project.
The EEC and Euratom begin operating, turning the 1957 treaties into working institutions. With the EEC, member states commit to reducing barriers to trade and coordinating key policies to support a common market. This marks a shift from a limited sector community (ECSC) to a broader economic integration plan.
The European Parliamentary Assembly (a forerunner of today’s European Parliament) holds its first meeting in Strasbourg, with Robert Schuman elected President. While its powers are limited at this stage, a shared assembly supports public oversight and debate across borders. Over time, this institution will become a key part of how European integration is governed.
Member states debate the Fouchet Plan, an effort associated with France to create closer political cooperation mainly through intergovernmental methods (cooperation led by national governments). Disagreements—especially about the balance between national control and supranational institutions—prevent agreement. The failure shows that economic integration is moving faster than political union in the early 1960s.
The EEC introduces its first Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), giving member states joint rules for food production and farm markets. The CAP becomes one of the EEC’s biggest shared programs, shaping budgets, trade, and rural economies. It also shows how the common market requires coordinated policies, not just lower tariffs.
The EEC signs the Yaoundé Convention to structure cooperation and trade with 18 African partner countries (many recently independent). This is among the EEC’s first major external agreements and signals that the Community is developing a shared external economic role. It also connects the common market to overseas trade and development relationships.
The six member states sign the Merger Treaty, agreeing to merge the separate executive bodies of the ECSC, EEC, and Euratom into a single Commission and a single Council. This simplifies governance and helps the three Communities act more coherently. Institution-building like this is crucial for running a growing set of shared economic policies.
France withdraws its representatives from EEC meetings, creating the “Empty Chair Crisis.” The dispute centers on issues including financing and governance, especially whether more decisions should be made by majority voting rather than by unanimous agreement. The boycott slows Community decision-making and highlights tension between supranational power and national sovereignty.
Member states reach the Luxembourg Compromise to resolve the Empty Chair Crisis. In practice, it allows a country to insist that discussions continue when it claims a “very important national interest,” making majority voting harder to use in politically sensitive cases. The deal gets institutions working again but slows some moves toward stronger supranational decision-making.
The Merger Treaty takes effect, creating a single Commission and a single Council for the three Communities. From this point, the ECSC, EEC, and Euratom are commonly referred to collectively as the “European Communities.” The change strengthens administrative capacity as integration expands from founding treaties into day-to-day policy and trade management.
The six EEC states remove customs duties on trade between themselves and apply a common external tariff to imports from outside the bloc. This is a major practical step toward a common market because it changes how goods move across borders and how the bloc trades with the rest of the world. It also shows that early treaties are producing real, measurable economic integration.
EEC leaders meet in The Hague and agree on a broad forward agenda often summarized as completing existing plans, deepening cooperation, and preparing for enlargement. The summit helps restart momentum after mid-1960s political disputes and sets up major next steps, including opening the door to new members. It marks a clear transition from the founding-treaty phase into a new stage of expansion and consolidation.
Founding Treaties and Early European Communities (1951-1970)