BUILDING A SINGLE MARKET

Early European Initiatives The achievements of the European Coal and Steel Community were more symbolic than substantive. Supporters of further integration campaigned for further initiatives. The European Defence Community (EDC) (1952) was a stillborn plan to create a common European military as a way of binding West Germany into western Europe. The European Political Community was an attempt to create a political body to oversee the ESCS and EDC. The failure of both left supporters of integration chastened, but contributed to an improvement in Franco-German relations.

Rome and the EEC Economic integration inspired the signature of the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which led to the foundation in 1958 of the European Economic Community (EEC). It committed its six founding members to the creation of a single market; the elimination of customs duties between members; and the establishment of common agricultural, trade, transport and competition policies. Progress was mixed: EEC institutions had little power and integration was mainly an intergovernmental process. During the 1960s the EEC was troubled by political disagreements over the power and reach of its institutions and over enlargement.

Rome and the EEC

European Enlargement With six members, the EEC had a 56% share of western Europe’s wealth. To secure regional peace and economic prosperity, other states had to join. Britain, the most obvious absentee, gradually became more amenable to integration, when it became clear that it would risk political and economic isolation by remaining outside the EEC Vetoes by De Gaulle in 1963 and 1967 delayed British membership until January 1973 (when Denmark and Ireland also joined). Greece joined in 1981 and Portugal and Spain in 1986. Now the largest economic bloc in the world, the international influence of the EEC was greatly boosted. However, decision-making processes became more complicated by requiring a wider range of interests to be considered.

Enlargement, 1973-1986