A Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe, First Edition
The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC). It is, together with the Euratom Treaty (also signed at Rome) and the Treaty of Paris, one of the founding treaties of the European Union.
Signed on 25 March 1957 by the six founding participants in the project of European integration (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), it came into force in January 1958.
The Treaty of Rome states that the intention of the signatories is ‘to promote throughout the Community a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, an increase in stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between the States belonging to it’ by ‘establishing a common market and progressively approximating the economic policies of Member States’ (Article 2). The common market entailed the removal of all tariff and quantitative restrictions on trade within the EEC. It also set a common external tariff on all goods entering the market. It established rules on competition which prohibit practices that distort free competition and it committed the EEC to the free movement of goods, services, persons and capital.
The EEC Treaty has been revised a number of times by the Single European Act, the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice.
This is the complete article, containing 217 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
View More Summaries on Treaty of Rome
