Editing History of the European Union (section)

== Initial years (1948–1957) ==
{{Further|History of European integration (1948–1957)}}
[[File:Flag of the Western Union.svg|thumb|Flag of the Western Union]]
With the start of the [[Cold War]], the [[Treaty of Brussels]] was signed in 1948 establishing the [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]] (WU) as the first organisation, followed by the [[International Authority for the Ruhr]]. In the same year, the [[Organization for European Economic Co-operation]], the predecessor of the OECD, was also founded to manage the [[Marshall Plan]]; the [[Eastern Bloc]] responded with establishing the [[Comecon]].

[[File:Europa Congres Ridderzaal Den Haag. Overzicht, Bestanddeelnr 902-7379.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|Meeting in the [[Ridderzaal|Hall of Knights]] in [[The Hague]], during the [[Congress of Europe]] (9 May 1948)]]

A pivotal moment in European integration was the [[Hague Congress (1948)|Hague Congress]] of May 1948, as it led to the creation of the [[European Movement International]], the [[College of Europe]]<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.isbnplus.com/9789080498310|editor=[[Dieter Mahncke]]|editor2=[[Léonce Bekemans]]|editor3=[[Robert Picht]]|title=The College of Europe. Fifty Years of Service to Europe|location=[[Bruges]]|year=1999|publisher=[[College of Europe]]|isbn=978-90-804983-1-0|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228030332/http://www.isbnplus.com/9789080498310|archive-date=28 December 2016}}</ref> and most importantly to the founding of the [[Council of Europe]] on the 5th of May 1949 (now known as [[Europe Day]]). The Council of Europe was the first institution to bring the sovereign nations of Western Europe together, raising great hopes and fevered debates in the following two years for further European integration.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} It has since been a broad forum to further cooperation and shared issues, achieving things like the 1950-signed [[European Convention on Human Rights]].

[[Image:Schuman Declaration.jpg|thumb|left|[[Robert Schuman]] [[Schuman Declaration|proposed]] the [[Coal and Steel Community]] in May 1950.]]

Essential for the actual birth of the institutions of the EU was the 9th of May 1950 [[Schuman Declaration]] (on the day after the fifth [[Victory in Europe Day|Victory Day]], today's [[Europe day]] – of the EU). On the basis of that speech, France, Italy, the [[Benelux]] countries (Belgium, Netherlands and [[Luxembourg]]) together with [[West Germany]] signed the [[Treaty of Paris (1951)]] creating the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] the following year; this took over the role of the [[International Authority for the Ruhr]]<ref name="yoder"/> and lifted some restrictions on German industrial productivity. It gave birth to the first institutions, such as the High Authority (now the [[European Commission]]) and the Common Assembly (now the [[European Parliament]]). The first presidents of those institutions were [[Jean Monnet]] and [[Paul-Henri Spaak]] respectively. The [[founding fathers of the European Union]] understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and believed that by tying their national industries together, a future war between their nations became much less likely.<ref name="Europa History 45-59">{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/1945-1959/index_en.htm|title=A peaceful Europe&nbsp;– the beginnings of cooperation|publisher=European Commission|access-date=12 December 2011}}</ref> Backed by the [[Marshall Plan]] with large funds coming from the United States since 1948, the ECSC became a milestone organization, enabling European economic development and integration and being the origin of the main institutions of the EU such as the [[European Commission]] and [[European Parliament|Parliament]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1084818.html|title=Europe: How The Marshall Plan Took Western Europe From Ruins To Union|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=9 April 2008 |access-date=20 June 2019|last1=Blocker |first1=Joel }}</ref>

The formation of the European Coal and Steel Community was advanced by [[United States|American]] Secretary of State [[George C. Marshall]]. His [[Marshall Plan|namesake plan to rebuild Europe]] in the wake of World War II contributed more than $100 billion in today's{{when|date=July 2022}} dollars to the Europeans, helping to feed Europeans, deliver steel to rebuild industries, provide coal to warm homes, and construct dams to help provide power. In doing so, the Marshall Plan encouraged the integration of European powers into the European Coal and Steel Community, the precursor to present-day European Union, by illustrating the effects of economic integration and the need for coordination. The potency of the Marshall Plan caused former German Chancellor [[Helmut Schmidt]] to remark in 1997 that "America should not forget that the development of the European Union is one of its greatest achievements. Without the Marshall Plan it perhaps would never have come to that."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schmidt|first=Helmut|author-link=Helmut Schmidt|date=1997-06-06|title=Helmut Schmidt über den Marshallplan und die europäische Einheit: Mit voller Kraft ins nächste Jahrhundert|url=https://www.zeit.de/1997/24/zukunft.txt.19970606.xml/komplettansicht|publisher=[[Die Zeit]]|language=de|quote=Und Amerika sollte nicht vergessen, daß die Entstehung der Europäischen Union eine seiner größten Leistungen ist. Ohne den Marshallplan wäre es vielleicht nie dazu gekommen.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Blocker|first=Joel|date=1997-05-09|title=Europe: How The Marshall Plan Took Western Europe From Ruins To Union|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1084818.html|access-date=20 June 2019|website=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|language=en|quote=Witness the recent words of former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt: 'The United States ought not to forget that the emerging European Union is one of its greatest achievements: it would never have happened without the Marshall Plan.' [The "vielleicht" in the original quote is missing in this translation.]}}</ref>

Paralleling Schuman, the [[Pleven Plan]] of 1951 tried, but failed to tie the institutions of the developing European community under the [[European Political Community (1952)|European Political Community]], which was to include the also proposed [[European Defence Community]], an alternative to [[West Germany]] joining [[NATO]] which was established 1949 under the [[Truman Doctrine]].
In 1954 the [[Western European Union]] was founded, after NATO took over competences from the WU, and West Germany joined. This prompted the [[Soviet Union]] to form the [[Warsaw Pact]] in 1955, allowing it to enforce its standing in [[Eastern Europe]].

The attempt to turn the [[Saar protectorate]] into a "European territory" was rejected by a referendum in 1955. The Saar was to have been governed by a statute supervised by a European Commissioner reporting to the Council of Ministers of the [[Western European Union]].

After the failed attempts at creating defence (European Defence Community) and political communities (European Political Community), leaders met at the [[Messina Conference]] and established the [[Spaak Committee]] which produced the [[Spaak report]]. The report was accepted at the [[Venice Conference]] (29 and 30 May 1956), which decided to organise an [[Intergovernmental Conference]]. The [[Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom]] focused on economic unity, leading to the [[Treaties of Rome]] being signed in 1957 – this established the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC) and the [[European Atomic Energy Community]] (Euratom) among the members.<ref name="europa">[http://europa.eu/abc/history/1945-1959/index_en.htm A peaceful Europe – the beginnings of cooperation] europa.eu
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