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| Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market (1955) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market (1955) |
| Date | 1955 |
| Location | Messina Conference |
| Participants | Belgium; France; Federal Republic of Germany; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands |
| Result | Programme of Messina Conference leading to negotiations for the Treaties of Rome (1957) |
Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market (1955) The Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market (1955) was a diplomatic meeting convened after the Messina Conference to devise a revivified plan for European integration, involving representatives from Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It produced a set of proposals that directly shaped the negotiations culminating in the Treaties of Rome (1957), influencing the creation of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. The conference connected trajectories from earlier accords such as the Treaty of Paris (1951) and diplomatic initiatives tied to figures associated with Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet, and national leaders of the 1950s.
Following the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community by the Treaty of Paris (1951), momentum for deeper integration stalled amid disputes during the European Defence Community debates and Franco-German negotiations influenced by the Treaty of London (1954). The Messina Conference convened foreign ministers including delegates from Paul-Henri Spaak’s Belgian delegation and representatives tied to René Pleven’s proposals, producing a mandate for an intergovernmental conference to study a common market and a nuclear collaboration framework modeled on institutions like the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation and technical agencies resembling the International Atomic Energy Agency. The wider geopolitical context included the Cold War alignments of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and economic reconstruction programs linked to the Marshall Plan.
Delegations to the conference comprised ministers and civil servants from the six ECSC states: Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Key national figures and civil servants were influenced by personalities such as Paul-Henri Spaak, Antoine Pinay, and technocrats associated with Jean Monnet’s Action Committee for the United States of Europe. The conference’s explicit objectives were to assess modalities for a common market—involving customs arrangements, tariff elimination, and factor mobility—and to evaluate proposals for a supranational nuclear authority inspired by precedents like the Euratom concept and the institutional lessons from the European Coal and Steel Community.
Negotiations juxtaposed competing models: supranational frameworks inspired by the High Authority of the ECSC versus intergovernmental schemes preferred by certain delegations wary of ceding sovereignty, reminiscent of debates at the Council of Europe. Delegates debated elimination of internal tariffs, creation of a customs union akin to the Benelux arrangements, and common policies for transport and competition modeled on existing practices in OEEC members. Proposals included sectoral integration for coal and steel continuity, a comprehensive customs union leading to a common external tariff like models under consideration by Paul-Henri Spaak’s committee, and a parallel scheme for a nuclear community reflecting technical frameworks similar to the Euratom Treaty drafts.
The conference produced the programme agreed at Messina Conference to forward detailed working papers and to commission a preparatory committee, chaired by Paul-Henri Spaak, to draft treaty texts. Its principal outcome was political consensus to pursue a customs union and a separate atomic energy community, thus setting the agenda for the Treaties of Rome (1957). The decisions bridged positions previously conflicting at forums such as the Congress of Europe and set procedural paths through intergovernmental conferences and diplomatic channels involving capitals like Paris, Rome, and Bonn.
Implementation proceeded through the Spaak Committee and subsequent intergovernmental negotiations that produced the Treaties of Rome (1957), establishing the European Economic Community and Euratom. Institutional innovations included blended supranational bodies drawing on the ECSC High Authority model and intergovernmental councils resembling the nascent European Council dynamics among national executives. Administrative and legal precedents from the conference influenced the development of European Commission-style executive functions, competition policy frameworks later adjudicated by bodies influenced by the European Court of Justice, and customs arrangements that transformed intra‑European trade among the six signatories.
Politically, the conference marked a decisive shift from stalled defence integration under the European Defence Community toward pragmatic economic integration acceptable to national parliaments in France and Italy. Economically, the move toward a customs union and common market anticipated structural changes later analyzed in studies of European integration and cross-border capital movements comparable to developments seen in the Benelux Customs Union. It also aligned Western European reconstruction and growth strategies with the security architecture of NATO and trade liberalization patterns influenced by General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade participants.
Historians evaluate the conference as a catalytic diplomatic turning point that rescued the postwar integration project and enabled the creation of the European Communities, later evolving into the European Union. Scholarly assessments contrast visions of supranationalism championed by Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman with national pragmatism represented by leaders like Antoine Pinay and technocratic committees led by Paul-Henri Spaak. The conference’s legacy endures in institutional designs, treaty drafting techniques, and the precedent of incremental treaty-making exemplified by the Treaties of Rome (1957), shaping subsequent milestones such as the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty.
Category:1955 in international relations