The Treaties of Rome, signed on 25 March 1957 by the six ECSC countries, created the European Economic Community (EEC), with a common market and a customs union, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The EEC Treaty, renamed several times, is today the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.
- Official name
- Treaty establishing the European Economic Community; Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community
- Signed
- 25 March 1957, Rome, Italy
- In force
- 1 January 1958
- Signatories
- 6 states
After the Coal and Steel Community, the six founding countries (Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) looked for a way to go further. They chose two routes at once: integration of the whole economy, and cooperation in the new field of nuclear energy. On 25 March 1957, in Rome, they signed two treaties. Both entered into force on 1 January 1958 and, unlike the ECSC Treaty, were concluded for an unlimited period.
What they changed
The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) aimed to create a common market based on four freedoms: the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital. It provided for:
- the removal of customs duties between member states and a common customs tariff towards the rest of the world, in other words a customs union;
- common policies for agriculture and transport;
- a European Social Fund and a European Investment Bank.
The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) aimed to coordinate research and the supply of fissile materials for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Each community had its own executive Commission and Council. A convention signed at the same time made the Parliamentary Assembly and the Court of Justice common to the three communities (ECSC, EEC and Euratom). Most decisions were taken by the Council on proposals from the Commission, a pattern that still exists today.
Example
The customs union was completed on 1 July 1968: from that date, the six no longer charged customs duties on goods traded between them and applied a common tariff to imports from outside. In the same period, the six agreed joint management of agriculture through the common agricultural policy provided for in the treaty.
Debates and limits
Euratom’s original ambitions were scaled back because nuclear energy was considered strategically sensitive by member states, and it remained far less important than the EEC. The EEC Treaty, by contrast, became the core of European integration. It was renamed the Treaty establishing the European Community by the Maastricht Treaty, and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by the Treaty of Lisbon. Euratom still exists as a separate treaty. The original six did not include the United Kingdom, which joined the Communities only in 1973.