Action Committee for the United States of Europe

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The Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE) was initiated by Jean Monnet and others and founded in 1955.

The Action Committee for the United States of Europe should further spread the idea of Europe (integration) and, in particular, provide assistance by preparing ideas and suggestions for politics ( think tank ). At the beginning of the activity mainly with regard to the establishment of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAG) and the European Economic Community (EEC).

founding

By October 13, 1955, Jean Monnet obtained the consent of many politicians (including Fanfani , Kiesinger , Mollet , Pleven , Wehner, later Brandt , Heath , Tindemanns) and organizations to found the action committee with him.

On October 14, 1955, Jean Monnet issued a press release calling for the establishment of an Action Committee for the United States of Europe.

The name of the facility goes back to Jean Monnet himself. The goal of the institution was already included in the name.

On January 18, 1956, the constituent meeting of the Action Committee took place in Paris .

Seat

The Secretariat of the Action Committee was located on Avenue Foch in Paris.

organization

Jean Monnet was from 1955 chairman of the "Action Committee for the United States of Europe". Max Kohnstamm became the general secretary and later vice chairman of the action committee .

The nucleus and main driving force of the Action Committee was also in the following years the existence of the Action Committee Jean Monnet, who mobilized the relevant political forces and brought them together for joint discussions and decision-making.

Many influential politicians , parties and other European organizations (e.g. trade unions ) belonged to the Action Committee .

aims

The aim of the action committee was to make a contribution to further and deeper European integration .

Different party-political views and nationalist currents should be overcome by the common goal of European integration. Above all, through joint discussions and advice on problems that arose equally in all Member States of the Communities.

The goal was the formation of the United States of Europe , which should go beyond mere international legal cooperation ( Europe of the Fatherlands ) and make it impossible for another war to break out between the European states. This requires the further transfer of competences from the member states to the European level.

The Action Committee played a major role in the creation of the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community, as well as in the Franco-German reconciliation .

After the partial integration in the area of coal and steel (Montanunion), atomic energy (EAG) and the comprehensive economic community (EEC), the action committee recognized the areas of politics ( political union ), finances and currency ( monetary union ) as further necessary integration steps and worked out proposals.

resolution

The Action Committee for the United States of Europe disbanded on May 9, 1975.

The action committee was dissolved because Jean Monnet was convinced in March 1974 that, among other things, the creation of the European Council initiated by the committee would make the work of the committee superfluous in the future: “There is nothing to do with the ability of the nine state and heads of government who regularly sit down at a table with the President of the European Commission to try to solve the problems that arise in the common interest. "

Jean Monnet himself called the Action Committee a European political authority . The European Council replaced the Action Committee in this regard.

Literature and Sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Also: Monnet Committee.
  2. ↑ . Engl for A ction C ommittee for the U nited S tates of E urope.
  3. ^ Jean Monnet was among other things the first President of the High Authority of the Coal and Steel Community .
  4. ↑ At the meeting in Paris on November 19 and 20, 1959 , the Action Committee proposed merging the three European executive bodies (merging of the High Authority and Commissions). On July 11, 1960, resolutions were passed in five resolutions on the merger of the Community executive bodies, the direct election of the European Parliament , the anti-cartel provisions of the EEC, the expansion of the European Community and the raising of the standard of living in the “ western world ”. See also the timeline of the legal history of Anton Schäfer
  5. ↑ On the occasion of the first meeting of the Action Committee on January 18, 1956 in Paris (Institut Branting), a resolution was passed that a European Atomic Energy Commission should be created ( timetable 1956 ).
  6. ^ Oppermann / Classen / Nettesheim, Europarecht, 4th edition Munich 1999, p. 7, Rn. 4; Jean Monnet, Memories of a European, Munich / Vienna 1978, p. 515 ff.
  7. ^ Jean Monnet, Memories of a European, Munich / Vienna 1978, pp. 513–545, 515 ff.
  8. ↑ Timeline 1955
  9. ^ Jean Monnet, Memories of a European , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna 1978, p. 515.
  10. ^ Jean Monnet, Memories of a European , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna 1978, pp. 517, 523.
  11. ^ A b Jean Monnet, Memories of a European, Munich / Vienna 1978, p. 528
  12. ↑ Jean Monnet names in Memories of a European , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna 1978, pp. 526, 564 as members: 30 leaders from seven European countries, twenty democratic parties and ten (powerful, non-communist) trade unions. Example: Pierre Uri, Guido Carli , Erich Ollenhauer , Mariano Rumor , Amintore Fanfani , Kurt Birrenbach , Max Buset , Gaston Defferre , Carl Romme , Hans Furler , Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , Maurice Fauvre, Giovanni Malagodi, Guy Mollet , René Pleven , Walter Freitag , Kurt Georg Kiesinger , Willy Brandt , Helmut Schmidt , Théo Lefèvre , Pierre Pflimlin , Antoine Pinay , Giuseppe Saragat , Leo Tindemans , Paul Vanden Boeynants , Heinrich von Brentano , German Trade Union Confederation , Socialist Party France and others. v. a. m.
  13. ↑ Jean Monnet says in Memoirs of a European , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna 1978, p. 515: Only the political parties and the trade unions had both the strength and the altruism necessary for the construction of Europe. The political parties have an eye for the whole by their destiny as well as by necessity. The unions are interested in life and are receptive to transformation.
  14. ^ Jean Monnet, Memories of a European , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna 1978, p. 516.
  15. ↑ Jean Monnet saw mainly the EAG as a pressing goal, as it not only the solution to the energy problem and the dependence on oil imports from the Middle East saw as a big problem, but also that the unhindered use of nuclear power to the uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear weapons lead (which in turn would jeopardize peace in Europe). Therefore it was important for him to submit the fissile materials to a control by a supranational authority. See Suez Crisis : On July 26, 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal without warning . See also resolution of the Paris Action Committee of September 19, 1956.
  16. ↑ Europe Day is celebrated annually on May 9th .
  17. ^ Jean Monnet, Memories of a European , Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, Vienna 1978, pp. 528, 651.