ABSTRACT
A key event in the quest for European union, from which so much subsequently flowed, was the signing in 1986 by the twelve member states of the European Communities of the Single European Act (SEA). Their signature, and subsequent ratification of the Act broadly achieved two things. First, the Act modified the founding treaties which gave rise to the three European Communities,1-amending the Paris treaty of 1951 which created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the Rome Treaty of 1957 which brought into being the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the other Rome Treaty of 1957, which called into existence the European Economic Community (EEC). It was this latter treaty that was the main focus of attention in the SEA and the contents of this book reflect its importance.
