ABSTRACT
The formation of the European Community began in 1950 (NCBMP, 1988) when the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Schuman, proposed that European countries should pool their production and consumption of coal and steel and establish institutions to manage this. The first European com munity - the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) - was set up by a Treaty signed in Paris in April 1951. Two other European communities were established by the Treaties of Rome signed in March 1957. These were the European Economic Com munity (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). In 1986 these treaties were amended by the Single European Act, which was designed to improve the future working of the com munities and to extend their scope.
