Treaties of Rome

Overview

The Treaties of Rome refer to two of the treaties of the European Union signed on March 25, 1957. Both treaties were signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.

The first treaty established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the second established the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom). They were the first international organizations to be based on supranationalism, after the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) established a few years prior.

The treaties came into force on January 1, 1958, and the EEC treaty has been amended on numerous occasions. It has since been renamed from "The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community" to the "The Treaty establishing the European Community." However, the Euratom treaty has seen very little amendment due to the later sensitivity surrounding atomic energy amongst the European electorate.

Euratom

The Euratom treaty is less well known due to the lower profile of that organisation. While the EEC has evolved into what is now the European Union, Euratom has remained much the same and is governed by the same institutions as the EEC. It was established with independent institutions, but in 1967 the Merger Treaty merged the institutions of Euratom and the ECSC with those of the EEC. The Euratom treaty has seen very little amendment due to the later sensitivity surrounding atomic energy amongst the European electorate.

EEC Renamings

The EEC treaty's original full name was the "Treaty establishing the European Economic Community," but in 1993 the Treaty of Maastricht changed the name of the EEC treaty to reflect the change of the EEC in becoming the European Community. Hence the treaty became the "Treaty establishing the European Community" (TEC).

External resources

• Consolidated version of the Treaty (Official Journal C 321E of December 29, 2006)
• EEC Treaty (Treaty of Rome) in Wikisource
• History of the Rome Treaties European NAvigator
• Treaty establishing the European Economic Community European NAvigator