Without the Coal and Steel Community from 1951, there is no today’s EU

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was established by the Paris Treaty on April 18, 1951, as a precursor to today’s European Union. Thus, it can be said that the EU is celebrating its 75th birthday today.

However, Europe Day is celebrated on May 9. On that May Tuesday in 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presented his declaration on the formation of a community that would unify the production and market of coal and steel among member countries and create the first European common market.

The starting point was of a political nature. Schuman believed that after World War II, the mistake of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, which led to Germany’s isolation, should not be repeated. Therefore, a project was conceived to unify French and German coal and steel production.

At the time of the reconstruction of war-torn Europe, these were strategic industries, so placing them under the jurisdiction of a supranational institution had special significance. France was the first to renounce part of its national sovereignty, and along with it, the Treaty was signed by West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Interestingly, Algeria was also among the founders of the ECSC, which was then (until 1962) part of France.

The ECSC was the foundation for the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. All of this resulted in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, by which 12 countries established the European Union on November 1, 1993.

When the Paris Treaty expired in 2002, the ECSC ceased to exist in any form, and its activities were fully taken over by the European Union, which now has 27 member states.

Coal is no longer in the game

If a supranational community were to be established today, coal would no longer be in the game. Steel would still be important, especially in the context of the fact that China holds more than 50 percent of global production. In the 1950s, the USA had a share of nearly 50 percent, while the founders of the ECSC had 25-30 percent.

However, the new integration would be primarily based on energy. After all, in the current wars – from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the Israeli-American attack on Iran – the main collateral victim is precisely the EU due to its inferiority in energy production.

In global relations and (to some extent) a united Europe faces significant problems of competitiveness, innovation, but above all energy import dependence. The situation today is more uncertain than ever.

And one can only imagine what the current European geostrategic geography would look like in the context of Russian, American, and Chinese aspirations if the 27 states had not united into an association defined on April 18, 1951, in Paris.