Treaty of Paris – EC Library Guide: Introduction
This Library Guide provides a selection of relevant primary and secondary information sources on the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), or the Treaty of Paris, and is an initial gateway for your research. Access to some sources may be restricted to Commission staff or to users at subscribing institutions.
For quick reference, introductory information is provided below.
- Treaty of Paris
European Parliament
The Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was signed in Paris (France) on 18 April 1951, entered into force on 23 July 1952 and expired on 23 July 2002
- Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC Treaty
Summaries of EU Legislation
This summary explains the aim and the objectives of the Treaty of Paris.
- Fact sheets on the European Union: The first Treaties
European Parliament.
The decision to pool the coal and steel industries of six European countries, brought into force by the Treaty of Paris in 1951, marked the first step towards European integration. The Treaties of Rome of 1957 strengthened the foundations of this integration, as well as the notion of a common future for the six European countries involved.
History of a Treaty
A film produced by the High Authority of the ECSC in 1955.
(Source: EC Audiovisual Service. © European Union, 1955)
- The Treaty of Paris
Desmond Dinan. In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. (Retrieved 6 Jun. 2023)
On June 20, 1950, representatives of six countries (Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) met in Paris to launch what became the first intergovernmental conference in the history of European integration. The outcome, after a year of difficult negotiations, was an agreement to establish the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), signed in Paris on April 18, 1951. Based on the Schuman Declaration of May 1950, the Paris Treaty established a High Authority of a “supranational character,” with responsibility for managing a common market for two key industrial sectors. The Coal and Steel Community was a political as much as an economic undertaking.
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