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European Community

 
Dictionary: European Community
 
(Abbr. EC)

An economic and political organization formed from the consolidation of three western European treaty organizations, the European Economic Community, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community. The treaty establishing the European Community was ratified in 1965 and took effect in 1967. The United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark joined in 1973; Greece in 1981; and Spain and Portugal in 1986.

 

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Banking Dictionary: European Community
 

Economic alliance formed in 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to promote trade and cooperation among its members. Membership was extended to Denmark, Great Britain, and Ireland in 1973, followed by Greece (1981), Portugal and Spain (1986). Tariff barriers and controls on currency flows between member countries were formally abolished in 1992, creating "a Europe without frontiers" and eventual monetary union and a common currency, the Euro. Central staff headquarters of the European Community is located in Brussels, Belgium.

With ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union in 1993, the European Community dropped its previous name, the European Economic Community (EEC). The European Community is closely identified with the European Union an economic and social policy group of which it is a part.

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: European Community
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Organization formed in 1967 with the merger of the European Economic Community, European Coal and Steel Community, and European Atomic Energy Community. The merger created a single Commission of the European Community and a single Council of Ministers. Other executive, legislative, and judicial bodies also were collected under the umbrella of the EC. In 1993 the EC became the basis of the European Union, and the European Economic Community was renamed the European Community.

For more information on European Community, visit Britannica.com.

 
WordNet: European Community
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
  Synonyms: European Union, EU, EC, European Economic Community, EEC, Common Market, Europe


 
Wikipedia: European Community
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European Union

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the European Union



Other countries · Atlas
 Politics portal

The European Community (EC) is the first of the three pillars of the European Union (EU) created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992). It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, the EU's pillar structure will be abolished. This means that the European Community, and the other two pillars, will be merged and cease to exist as separate entities.

Contents

History

The Maastricht Treaty built upon the Single European Act and the Solemn Declaration on European Union in the creation of the European Union. The treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 and came into force on 1 November 1993. It superseded the European Communities, absorbing it as one of its three pillars. The first Commission President following the creation of the EU was Jacques Delors, who briefly continued his previous EEC tenure before handing over to Jacques Santer in 1994.

The Treaty of Amsterdam transferred responsibility for free movement of persons (e.g. visas, illegal immigration, asylum) from the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) pillar to the European Community (JHA was renamed Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) as a result).[1] Both Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice also extended codecision procedure to nearly all policy areas, giving Parliament equal power to the Council in the Community.

In 2002, the Treaty of Paris which established the European Coal and Steel Community (one of the three communities which comprised the European Communities) expired, having reached its 50 year limit (as the first treaty, it was the only one with a limit). It was seen as redundant so no attempt was made to replace it; instead, the Treaty of Nice transferred its elements to the Treaty of Rome and hence its work continued as part of the EEC area of the Community's remit.

1948
Brussels
 
1951/52
Paris
 
1957/58
Rome
 
1965/67
Brussels
 
1986/87
SEA
 
1992/93
Maastricht
(founded EU)
 
1997/99
Amsterdam
 
2001/03
Nice
 
2007/ ?
Lisbon
 
European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) European Union (EU)
European Economic Community (EEC)
P
I
L
L
A
R
S
European Community (EC)
↑European Communities↑ Justice & Home Affairs (JHA)
Police & Judicial co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC)
European Political Cooperation (EPC) Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP)
Western European Union (WEU)

Policy areas

The Community pillar covers the following areas;[1]

Supranationalism

European Community Common Foreign and Security Policy Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters
The three pillars constituting the European Union (clickable)

The pillar structure of the EU allows the areas of European co-operation to be increased, without leaders handing a large amount of power to supranational institutions. The pillar system segregates the EU, what was formally the competencies of the EEC fell within the European Community pillar. Justice and Home Affairs was introduced as a new pillar while European Political Cooperation became the second pillar (the Common Foreign and Security Policy).

The EEC institutions became the institutions of the EU but the roles of the institutions between the pillars are different. The Commission, Parliament and Court of Justice are largely cut out of activities in the second and third pillars, with the Council dominating proceedings. This is reflected in the names of the institutions, the Council is formally the "Council of the European Union" while the Commission is formally the "Commission of the European Communities". This allowed the new areas to be based on intergovernmentalism (unanimous agreement between governments) rather than majority voting and independent institutions.

However, since Maastricht, Parliament has gained a much bigger role. Maastricht brought in the codecision procedure, which gives it equal legislative power with the Council on Community matters. Hence, with the greater powers of the supranational institutions and the operation of Qualified Majority Voting in the Council, the Community pillar can be described as a far more federal method of decision making. Indeed, in the draft European Constitution, this was to be called federalism but the wording was changed to "community method" due to the political overtones of the word 'federal' in the United Kingdom.

Future

Under the Treaty of Lisbon the pillar structure would be abolished, merging the Community pillar with the others into a single European Union, over which Community institutions would have greater powers. This would include the legal personality of the Community which would hence be transferred to the Union.This was previously proposed under the European Constitution but that treaty failed ratification in 2005. The Treaty of Lisbon is planned to come into force in 2009, if fully ratified.

The Euratom treaty, unlike that of the ECSC, did not expire and despite proposals to merge that fully into the Union, it will continue to exist as a sole independent entity within the Union.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b What are the three pillars of the EU?, Folketingets EU-Oplysning

Further reading

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Banking Dictionary. Dictionary of Banking Terms. Copyright © 2006 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "European Community" Read more

 

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