Finland · 50 years of the Treaties of Rome

The “Treaties of Rome (Römische Verträge)” refer to two agreements: the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft, EEC) and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Europäische Atomgemeinschaft, Euratom). The parties to the treaties were Belgium, Bundesrepublik Deutschland, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Both treaties entered into force at the beginning of 1958.

The EEC was intended to gradually integrate the economies of the member states. This included the removal of customs duties and trade barriers, the establishment of a common external tariff and the development of common policy areas. The treaty also created an institutional framework with a Commission, Council of Ministers, parliamentary assembly and Court of Justice. The European Parliament (Europäisches Parlament) later emerged from the parliamentary assembly. Euratom, by contrast, regulated cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, including research, supply and safety controls.

The treaties were connected with the unification of Western Europe after the Second World War. Previously, the same six states had placed key industries important to the war effort under joint supervision through the European Coal and Steel Community (Europäische Gemeinschaft für Kohle und Stahl). After more far-reaching plans for a European Defence Community and a European Political Community had failed, cooperation shifted more strongly towards economic areas.

The EEC continued to develop through subsequent enlargements and treaty amendments. The Maastricht Treaty (Vertrag von Maastricht) created the European Union (Europäische Union) and initiated Economic and Monetary Union. Today’s EU is therefore not based unchanged on the 1957 treaty text, but institutionally and legally follows the line of development established by it. Euratom continues to exist as a separate community with the EU’s common institutions.

The common coin issue highlighted this connection between the beginnings of the Economic Community and the later monetary union. It was the first 2-euro commemorative coin issued by all the then euro-area countries with a common central design. The participation of many countries that joined later also pointed to the expansion of European cooperation beyond the original group of six treaty states.