Editing European Economic Community (section)

==Aims and achievements==
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The main aim of the EEC, as stated in its preamble, was to "preserve peace and liberty and to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe". Calling for balanced economic growth, this was to be accomplished through:<ref name="ENA EEC achievements">{{Cite web|title=The achievements of the EEC|date=20 October 2012|publisher=CVCE|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/report_by_the_eec_commission_on_the_implementation_of_the_treaty_of_rome_january_1958_january_1962-en-a757255d-b121-4d44-842f-1aa861a5f018.html|access-date=26 April 2013}}</ref>

# The establishment of a [[customs union]] with a [[common external tariff]]
# Common policies for [[Common Agricultural Policy|agriculture]], [[Transport in Europe|transport]] and trade, including [[standardization]] (for example, the [[CE marking]] designates standards compliance)
# [[Enlargement of the European Union|Enlargement of the EEC]] to the rest of Europe

Citing Article 2 from the original text of the Treaty of Rome of 25 March 1957, the EEC aimed at "a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, an increase in stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between the States belonging to it". Given the fear of the Cold War, many Western Europeans were afraid that poverty would make "the population vulnerable to communist propaganda" (Meurs 2018, p.&nbsp;68), meaning that increasing prosperity would be beneficial to harmonise power between the Western and Eastern blocs, other than reconcile Member States such as France and Germany after WW2. 

The tasks entrusted to the Community were divided among an assembly, the European Parliament, Council, Commission, and Court of Justice. Moreover, restrictions to market were lifted to further liberate trade among Member States. Citizens of Member States (other than goods, services, and capital) were entitled to freedom of movement. The CAP, Common Agricultural Policy, regulated and subsided the agricultural sphere. A European Social Fund was implemented in favour of employees who lost their jobs. A European Investment Bank was established to "facilitate the economic expansion of the Community by opening up fresh resources" (Art. 3 Treaty of Rome 25 March 1957). All these implementations included overseas territories. Competition was to be kept alive to make products cheaper for European consumers.

For the customs union, the treaty provided for a 10% reduction in custom duties and up to 20% of global import quotas. Progress on the customs union proceeded much faster than the twelve years planned. However, France faced some setbacks due to their [[Algerian War|war with Algeria]].<ref name="ENA Customs">{{Cite web|title=The European Customs Union|publisher=CVCE|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_european_customs_union-en-08ef3b37-2ab4-4349-aec8-819809c59a9d.html|access-date=26 April 2013}}</ref>