ABSTRACT
The present European Union traces its lineage through various European ‘Communities’ back to 9 May 1950, the day when at a Paris press conference the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, announced proposals for a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). This Community was established by the Treaty of Paris, signed, if far from sealed, on 18 April 1951 by six countries: Belgium, France, the German Federal Republic, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. The European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom, established by the Treaties of Rome signed by the same six countries on 25 March 1957, perceived and presented themselves as having evolved from the Coal and Steel Community, although the Communities were to exist separately and in parallel for some years. They were, certainly, inspired by a continuity of ideology and political intent, even if they were institutionally and operationally very different in conception. This shared ideology, that Europe should proceed to some form of political union because this was desirable on political, economic, and humane grounds was proclaimed publicly when, after the merger of the separate Communities, which came into force on 1 July 1967, 9 May 1950 was decreed a holiday, Robert Schuman day. Properly, therefore, a history of the United Kingdom's tortuous relationship with the European Communities begins in May 1950.
