Plan G – A ‘Counterblast’? British Policy towards the Messina Countries, 1956

1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (01) ◽  
pp. 39-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Schaad
Keyword(s):  
European Economic Community ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Labour Government ◽  
European Economic ◽  
European Project ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common

As the new Labour government has declared its intention to enhance Britain's role in Europe, there is renewed interest in the chequered history of Anglo-European relations. Of particular relevance in view of the present policy reappraisal is the period between 1955 and 1963, as the challenge here is to account for perhaps the most fundamental policy reversal: from Britain's refusal to take part in the common market project launched by the six member countries of the European Coal and Steel Community(ECSC) at the Messina conference to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's effort to negotiate entry into the European Economic Community (EEC). Given that this latter effort proved unsuccessful, it is said by some that the earlier date represents the British failure to seize the opportunity to be part of the European project. The catchphrase‘missing the boat at Messina’ – though not undisputed – is most illustrative of this view.

Programming the Common Market: The Making and Failure of a ‘Dirigiste’ Europe, 1957–1967

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Hugo Canihac
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Practical Reasons ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Economic ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common

This article contributes to the debate about the history of the political economy of the European Economic Community (EEC). It retraces the efforts during the early years of the EEC to implement a form of ‘European economic programming’, that is, a more ‘dirigiste’ type of economic governance than is usually associated with European integration. Based on a variety of archives, it offers a new account of the making and failure of this project. It argues that, at the time, the idea of economic programming found many supporters, but its implementation largely failed for political as well as practical reasons. In so doing, it also brings to light the role of economists during the early years of European integration.

The Common Market and Conservative Party politics, 1961–2

1967 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Butt
Keyword(s):  
European Economic Community ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Common Market ◽  
British Politics ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Economic ◽  
The Third ◽  
Marginal Part ◽  
The Common

The Common Market as an issue in domestic British politics under the Macmillan government – and distinct from the negotiations, as such, with the European Economic Community – can be considered under three broad heads. First, there is the question how the decision to seek entry for Britain was taken. How far was it a political decision; how far was it motivated by the views of civil servants; how far was it prompted by interest groups in industry and finance ? Secondly, how did the Conservative Party become converted to the idea of British membership of the European Economic Community and how significant was the opposition to the idea that developed in the party ? The third question is what effect, if any, did domestic political opposition to the Common Market have on the French President's eventual veto of the project ?Except by implication, the third question is excluded from consideration here. Only a close student of French domestic politics is competent to evaluate how far, if at all, the hostility to the European idea in a section of the Conservative Party and the official objections of the Labour Party to British membership of EEC on any terms that then seemed negotiable, made it easier for the French President to impose his final veto. Conceivably, the possibility that a successor labour government might disown any treaty that the conservatives had signed may have played a marginal part in assisting the President's attitude in the final stages.

The European Economic Community: A Sovereign Entity Under its Own Legal Order

1988 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-189
Author(s):  
Ivan Sipkov
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
European Community ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Primary Task ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Economic ◽  
The Common

The European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the European Community, the Common Market, and the Community, originated through the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty. The inaugural agreement was signed in Paris on April 18, 1951, and became effective on July 25, 1952. The original members included Germany, France, Italy, and the Benelux countries of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The primary task of the ECSC Treaty was to create a common market for coal and steel by prohibiting all duties on imports and exports and all quantitative and private restraints on competition. This Treaty is considered the first step towards a united Europe. Its decisive innovation was to entitle the Community's institutions established by the Treaty to directly bind member states and enterprises by means of its decisions.

Around Cologne cathedral (1954-1957)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Segers
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
European Economic ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cologne Cathedral

Dutch unease with European integration refused to go away. The Common Market – the single most important project in the history of European integration – excluded the UK and therefore the Anglo-Saxon connection so desired by the Dutch. Moreover, kindred spirits like West Germany’s Ludwig Erhard had been outmanoeuvred: during the crucial phase of negotiations for the Rome Treaties, Chancellor Adenauer decided that Franco-German friendship must be prioritised over economic calculations, given the tense international situation (marked by escalating violence in Suez and Hungary and resurgent nationalism ahead of the Saar referendum). Events caught The Hague by surprise once again: behind the scenes, the signing of the Treaties of Rome on the European Economic Community in March 1957 received a lukewarm welcome.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

1958 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-418 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
European Economic Community ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
European Economic ◽  
The Common ◽  
Import Restrictions ◽  
Overseas Territories

The 37 contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) were represented at the meeting of the GATT inter-sessional committee, held in Geneva for three weeks, beginning April 14, 1958. The committee discussed at length the provisions of the Rome treaty establishing the European Economic Community. In its consideration of the question, the committee dealt with the common customs tariff which the community was to bring in, the use of import restrictions by the six signatories to protect their balance of payments situation, the so-called managed market for agriculture, and the association of the overseas territories of the community as part of the common market and the effect of this on world trade. Baron Snoy, who represented the European Economic Community, informed the committee that there would be a meeting in July at which representatives of the six countries would discuss preliminary matters affecting agriculture.

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