European Economic Community (EEC), organization established (1958) by a treaty signed in 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany (now Germany); it was known informally as the Common Market. The EEC was the most significant of the three treaty organizations that were consolidated in 1967 to form the European Community (EC; known since the ratification [1993] of the Maastricht treaty as the European Union). The EEC had as its aim the eventual economic union of its member nations, ultimately leading to political union. It worked for the free movement of labor and capital, the abolition of trusts and cartels, and the development of joint and reciprocal policies on labor, social welfare, agriculture, transport, and foreign trade.
In 1958, Britain proposed that the Common Market be expanded into a transatlantic free-trade area. After the proposal was vetoed by France, Britain engineered the formation (1960) of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and was joined by other European nations that did not belong to the Common Market. Beginning in 1973, EFTA and the EEC negotiated a series of agreements that would insure uniformity between the two organizations in many areas of economic policy, and by 1995, all but four of EFTA's members had transferred their memberships from EFTA to the European Union.
One of the first important accomplishments of the EEC was the establishment (1962) of common price levels for agricultural products. In 1968, internal tariffs (tariffs on trade between member nations) were eliminated and a common external tariff was fixed. For subsequent developments, see European Union .
Bibliography: See A. E. Walsh and J. Paxton, The Structure and Development of the Common Market (1968); R. C. Mowat, Creating the European Community (1973); A. M. Eli-Agraa, ed., The Economics of the European Community (1985); A. Sapir and J. Alexis, ed., The European Internal Market (1989).
Author not available, EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY.,
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008
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The Maastricht agreement on economic and monetary union. (European community)
World Economic Outlook; 5/1/1992; 2388 words;
... establishment of a European Economic Area, extending the Community's single ... membership of the European Community in due course ... Study of Economic and Monetary ... Report on Economic and Monetary Union in the European Community (Luxembourg ...
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The single market takes off. (economic integration plans of the European Community)
Europe; 2/1/1993; Krause, Axel; 2766 words;
... a better economic climate ... comment on the European Community's main accomplishment ... founders of the European Community, which was ... for true economic and political ... only if the Community continues toward economic, political ... Ambassador to the European ...
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Economic and monetary union and the European Community budget.
National Institute Economic Review; 5/1/1992; MacDougall, Donald; 3572 words;
... existing economic and monetary ... that the European Community would be ... much larger Community budget to ... Institute to the European Parliament ... social and economic cohesion ... end by the Community. It paints ... currency, a European Central Bank ... with the ...
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Routes to economic integration: 1992 in the European Community.
National Institute Economic Review; 8/1/1989; Kay, J.A. Posner, M.V.; 10595 words;
ROUTES TO ECONOMIC INTEGRATION: 1992 IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 1992 is a ... route to European economic integration ... reputation of the Community or the cause of European integration ... its macro-economic interdependence ... Centre for Economic Policy ...
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European M-MF makers await verdict of EEC dumping probe. (man-made fiber; European Economic Community)
Daily News Record; 6/1/1988; Bannon, Lisa; 511 words;
European M-MF Makers ... FNS) -- European manmade fiber ... commission of the European Economic Community opened the ... of Western European manmade fiber ... European Economic Community. Juvet attributes ... with their European counterparts ... undertaken by the ...
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&type=1 "Sunday Business (London, England)")
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ON BEHALF of the European Union, let me welcome the new entrants that are going to make the Common Market more common and the European Economic Community less economic.
Sunday Business (London, England); 10/13/2002; 919 words;
ON BEHALF of the European Union, let me welcome ... more common and the European Economic Community less economic. Regrettably we have ... Ruritania: Middle European monarchy currently ... leylandii hedge. u Utopia: Economic fantasy with high ... Land: Piratical Pan-European ...
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Breaking the connection. (European Economic Community's battle against drug trafficking)
Security Management; 6/1/1990; Zagaris, Bruce Fantauzzi, Ange-Francois; 4421 words;
... Additionally, some European Economic Community (EC) member ... to other European countries ... areas of European policy including ... implement a community response ... only the economic integration ... superior economic and political ... the world community to ...
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The relationship between an evolving GATT and an evolving European Economic Community. (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)(The Impact of 1992 Europe)
Atlantic Economic Journal; 9/1/1990; Dunkel, Arthur; 2669 words;
... Evolving European Economic Community I. Introduction ... end in the European continent ... political and economic evolutions ... 1992. The Community's future ... process of European economic integration ... involving the Community's trading ...
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&type=2 "The Economist (US)")
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If a non comes next.... (Maastricht treat on economic union in the European Community)
The Economist (US); 9/19/1992; 913 words;
... 1957, the European Community has tended ... start on economic and monetary ... political and economic stagnation ... Britain, the Community's current ... building of a European Union. Spain ... strengthened the Community. If France ... wanted a European alternative ... power for the ...
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1992: fashioning a new Europe. (effect of European Economic Community free trade agreement on apparel industry)
WWD; 11/1/1988; Bannon, Lisa; 2640 words;
... Some top European companies ... members of the European Economic Community. Europe will ... shape. The European Commission ... services in the community by Dec. 31 ... a united economic continent ... under the European Economic Community's fair competition ...
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'1992' is a two-way street. (when European Economic Community creates its new international insurance market) (editorial)
National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management; 7/3/1989; Diamond, Joseph S; 550 words;
... Two-Way Street When the European Economic Community creates its new international ... asked that question in a news article last week, and ... themselves shut out of European business. . State insurance ... adopted in December, the European Community gave itself the right ...
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Power to the centre. (economic unity) (European Community)
The Economist (US); 7/7/1990; Grant, Charles; 1984 words;
... union. Yet economic and monetary ... change the community more profoundly ... to a new European central bank ... tourists. The Community's preparatory ... treaty for economic and monetary ... suggests that a European Monetary ... ignored: economic union. It ... between the Community ...
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The European Community in 1990s: its transformation and impact. (Special Issue: World Economic Outlook for the 1990s )
Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business; 4/1/1991; Tzannetakis, George J.; 1096 words;
... transformation of the European economies ... forces to govern economic activities ... at least, economic and financial matters. The Economic Community of the fifty ... Therefore, the economic transformations ... for his/her European counterpart ... system guided by economic and ...
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EEC fines 15 firms in polyprop cartel. (European Economic Community)
Daily News Record; 5/1/1986; Islam, Shada; 286 words;
EEC Fines 15 Firms in Polyprop Cartel The European Economic Community's (EEC) Executive Commission has imposed fines totaling 57.8 million European community units (ECU)--about $53 million-- on 15 European multinationals accused of operating a polypropylene market-sharing and ...
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EEC set against govt. aid to swell M-MF production. (European Economic Community, man-made fibers)
Daily News Record; 7/20/1987; Islam, Shada; 216 words;
... To Swell M-MF Production The European Economic Community will not tolerate any government ... assistance aimed at increasing European production of synthetic fibers ... capitals earlier this month by the European commission. The letters also ...
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