contents - Description: Description: Description: Description ...

Netherlands, Luxembourg, and England, who met every three months. There was also a Western
European Union Assembly made up of delegates to the Consultive Assembly of the Council of
Europe in Paris.
The Western European Coalition began on June 8, 1948, with the signing of the Benelux
Agreement by Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, to unite their economic and domestic
policies.
On May 5, 1949, Foreign Ministers from ten European countries signed a Treaty in London,
for the purpose of working for “greater European unity, to improve the conditions of life and
principle human value in Europe and to uphold the principles of parliamentary democracy, the
rule of law and human rights.” The Treaty sought to promote unity, both socially and
economically, among its first members were: Belgium (1949), Denmark (1949), France (1949),
Ireland (1949), Italy (1949), Luxembourg (1949), Netherlands (1949), Norway (1949), Sweden
(1949), England (1949), Greece (1949), Turkey (1949), and Iceland (1949). It now has 45
member states. The Council of Europe, led by a Secretary-General, is open to all European States
which accepted the “principles of the rule of law and of the enjoyment by all persons within
(their) jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” They are headquartered in
Strasbourg, France (Avenue de l´Europe).
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the father of the Common Market, was a
defense alliance developed to implement the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949, and to apply counter
pressure against the growing Soviet military presence in Europe. Article V states: “The Parties
agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe shall be considered an attack
against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an attack occurs, each of them ... will
assist the Party or Parties so attacked ... to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic
Area.” Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, West Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, United
Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Turkey, and the United States,
all joined to oppose the growing threat of communism. Soon afterwards, the Russians,
recognizing NATO as a stumbling block to their plans, emulated the group by uniting their
communist satellites in 1955 with the Warsaw Treaty Organization. The Warsaw Pact alliance
included the countries of Albania, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania,
and Russia.
In 1950, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, came up with an idea to integrate all
the coal and steel industries of the western European nations; and in 1951, the European Coal
and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up with six member countries: Belgium, West Germany,
Luxembourg, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. An independent body known as the ‘High
Authority’ was able to make decisions in regard to the industries in those countries. Their first
President was the French economist and diplomat, Jean Monnet, called the ‘Father of Europe.’
On May 27, 1952, the European Defense Community Treaty was signed in Paris, and
provided for the armies of West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Luxembourg, to become closely aligned with England’s. On October 23, 1954, it was replaced
with the Western European Union, who merged their armies into a multi-national armed force.
Jean Monnet said: “As long as Europe remains divided, it is no match for the Soviet Union.
Europe must unite.” He established a pressure group in 1955 called the Action Committee for the
United States of Europe. He also said: “Once a Common Market interest has been created, then
political union will come naturally.”
On March 25, 1957, the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the
European Economic Community (EEC) was established with a 378-page Declaration of Intent,