European Political Community
The European Political Community (EPC) was proposed in 1952 as a combination of the existing European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the proposed European Defence Community (EDC). The European Political Community must not be confused with European Political Cooperation (1970-1993).
A draft EPC treaty, as drawn up by the ECSC assembly (now the European Parliament), would have seen a directly elected assembly ("the Peoples’ Chamber"), a senate appointed by national parliaments and a supranational executive accountable to the parliament.
The European Political Community project failed in 1954 when it became clear that the European Defence Community would not be ratified by the French national assembly, which feared that the project entailed an unacceptable loss of national sovereignty. As a result, the European Political Community idea had to be abandoned.[1][2]
See also
- Messina Conference
- History of the European Union
- European Defence Community
- European political cooperation
References
- ↑ Richard T. Griffiths Europe’s first constitution: the European Political Community, 1952–1954 in Stephen Martin, editor. The Construction of Europe: Essays in Honour of Emile Noël 19 (1994)
- ↑ European Political Community
External links
- The European Political Community on CVCE (Centre for European Studies)