European Atomic Energy Community

European Atomic Energy Community
Current membership of Euratom; coinciding with that of the European Union
Current membership of Euratom; coinciding with that of the European Union
Administrative center Brussels, Belgium
Official languages 23
Type International Organisation
Membership 27 EU Members
Establishment 1958
 -  Treaty of Rome 1 January 1958 
 -  Merger Treaty 1 July 1967 
Fully controlled by the European Union

The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation which is legally distinct from the European Union (EU), but has the same membership, and is governed by the EU's institutions.

It was established on 25 March 1957 along with the European Economic Community (EEC) by the Treaty of Rome, being taken over by the executive institutions of the EEC in 1967. Even though the other communities were merged together in 1993 and 2009, the community has maintained a legally distinct nature from the European Union.

Contents

History

The Common Assembly proposed extending the powers of the European Coal and Steel Community to cover other sources of energy. However Jean Monnet, ECSC architect and President, desired a separate community to cover nuclear power. Louis Armand was put in charge of a study into the prospects of nuclear energy use in Europe, his report concluded that further nuclear development was needed to fill the deficit left by the exhaustion of coal deposits and to reduce dependence on oil producers. However the Benelux states and Germany were also keen on creating a general common market, although it was opposed by France due to its protectionism and Jean Monnet thought it too large and difficult a task. In the end, Monnet proposed the creation of separate atomic energy and economic communities, to reconcile both groups.[1]

The Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom at Val Duchesse in 1956 drew up the essentials of the new treaties. Euratom would foster co-operation in the nuclear field, at the time a very popular area, and would, along with the EEC, share the Common Assembly and Court of Justice of the ECSC, but not its executives. Euratom would have its own Commission, with fewer powers than the ECSC's High Authority, and Council. On 25 March 1957, the Treaties of Rome were signed by the ECSC members and on 1 January 1958 they came into force.[2][3][4]

To save on resources, these separate executives created by the Rome Treaties were merged in 1965 by the Merger Treaty. The institutions of the EEC would take over responsibilities for the running of the EEC and Euratom, with all three then becoming known as the European Communities although each legally existed separately. In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty created the European Union, which absorbed the Communities into the European Community pillar, yet Euratom still maintains a distinct legal personality and the treaty remains in force relatively un-amended from its original signing.

The European Constitution was intended to consolidate all previous treaties and increase democratic accountability in them. The Euratom had not been amended in the same way the other treaties had and hence the European Parliament had been granted few powers of it. However, the reason it had gone unamended was the same reason the Constitution left it to remain separate from the rest of the EU: anti-nuclear sentiment among the European electorate which may unnecessarily turn voters against the treaty.[5][6][7]

Signed
In force
Document		 1948
1948
Brussels Treaty		 1951
1952
Paris Treaty		 1954
1955
Modified Brussels Treaty		 1957
1958
Rome Treaties		 1965
1967
Merger Treaty		 1975
N/A
European Council conclusion		 1986
1987
Single European Act		 1992
1993
Maastricht Treaty		 1997
1999
Amsterdam Treaty		 2001
2003
Nice Treaty		 2007
2009
Lisbon Treaty		 Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif
                       
Three pillars of the European Union:  
European Communities:  
European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty expired in 2002 European Union (EU)
    European Economic Community (EEC) European Community (EC)
    TREVI Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)  
  Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC)
  European Political Cooperation (EPC) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)
Unconsolidated bodies Western European Union (WEU)    
Treaty terminated in 2010  
                   
European Union
Flag of the European Union

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Aims and achievements

The purposes of Euratom are to create a specialist market for nuclear power and distribute it through the Community and to develop nuclear energy and sell surplus to non-Community States. Its major project is currently its participation in the international fusion reactor ITER [8] financed under the nuclear part of FP7. Euratom also provides a mechanism for providing loans to finance nuclear projects in the EU.

In the history of European regulation, Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty represents pioneering legislation concerning binding transfrontier obligations with respect to environmental impact and protection of humans.[9]

Presidents of the EAEC

The five member Commission was led by only three Presidents while it had independent executives (1958-1967), all from France;

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1957-1968 Successes and crises European NAvigator
  2. ↑ A European Atomic Energy Community European NAvigator
  3. ↑ The signing of the Rome Treaties ENA
  4. ↑ Drafting of the Rome Treaties European NAvigator
  5. ↑ Euratom: nuking Europe's future | Greenpeace International
  6. ↑ Declaration_abolish_EURATOM
  7. ↑ Euratom reform
  8. ↑ Fusion for Energy - Homepage
  9. ↑ Heuel-Fabianek, B., Kümmerle, E., Möllmann-Coers, M., Lennartz, R. (2008): The relevance of Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty for the dismantling of nuclear reactors. atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power 6/2008

External links