THE

The European Defense Community (EDC)

Origin and Purposes

HE TREATY FOR the establishment of the European Defense Community was signed at Paris, May 27, 1952, by the six countries which also form the European Coal and Steel Community: France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The treaty will become effective when ratified by the parliaments of the six participating countries. In the meantime an Interim Committee, established by a special protocol among the signatory states, is preparing the necessary measures so that the Community can begin to function as soon as the treaty becomes operative. The basic feature of the proposed EDC treaty is the integration of the defense forces of the participating states in a single European defense force under supranational authority. A plan for establishing such an integrated European army was first put forward by Winston Churchill in August 1950 in the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe. The initiative for the negotiation of the present treaty, however, was taken by the French Government, primarily as a result of the action of the North Atlantic Council in September 1950 approving, in principle, German participation in Western defense. In October of that year the then Prime Minister, René Pleven, secured his Parliament's approval of the so-called "Pleven Plan," which envisaged the establishment of an integrated European army, supervised by a European Minister of Defense endowed with supranational authority and supported by a common budget. Invitations extended to the European members of NATO and Western Germany to participate in the negotiations were accepted only by France's five associates in the Schuman Plan.

The proposed European Defense Community, with its common political institutions, armed forces, budget, and armaments program, has as its most immediate objective the strengthening of Western European defense through the most rational and economical utilization of the manpower and re

sources of all the participating states, including those of the German Federal Republic which does not yet participate in Western defense. Of almost equal importance is the furthering of European integration and cooperation through the sixpower community, initially established by the Schuman Plan.

Organization

The organization of the proposed European Defense Community has a dual aspect: (1) the structure of the European Defense Forces (EDF), the name given to the single integrated army established by the treaty; and (2) the organization of the political institutions supervising EDF and governing the Community. According to the treaty, all the defense forces of the participating states will be merged into EDF with the exception of the national police forces, troops recruited by a member state for the defense of its overseas territories or for international missions intrusted to it, and naval forces designed for other than coastal missions.

The European Defense Forces will consist of basic units homogeneous as to nationality, integrated into "European" units at the next highest echelon. For the land forces the basic unit will be the groupement, which is similar to a division. The army corps, the next highest echelon, will be composed of three or four groupements, each of different nationality, and will have an integrated staff. The European air forces will be organized according to a similar pattern. Because of technical difficulties, the national units composing the European naval forces will not be integrated.

The political institutions of the Community will be the Commissariat, the Council, the Assembly, and the Court. The Court and (with some modifications in membership) the Assembly are the same as those for the Coal and Steel Community. The Commissariat, which is the executive organ of the Community, will be composed of nine members appointed for a term of 6 years by the national governments. It may not include more than two members of the same nationality. Like the High Authority of the Coal and Steel Community, it acts by majority vote and will be responsible to the Assembly, to which it must make annual reports.

The Council, representing the national governments, will be composed of one minister from each government, each min

ister having one vote. Decisions taken by the Council may be by simple majority, qualified majority-usually two-thirds, or by unanimity according to the nature of the decision as determined by the treaty. In decisions taken by simple or qualified majority, a system of weighted voting is provided in which the member states contributing a major part of the manpower and financial resources of the Community will have a greater influence.

EDC will have the same Assembly as the Coal and Steel Community with the addition of three delegates each for France, Italy, and the German Federal Republic when the affairs of the Defense Community are discussed. Thus, these three countries will have 18 delegates each, with 10 each for the Netherlands and Belgium and 4 for Luxembourg. The Assembly ordinarily will meet once a year, but extraordinary sessions may be called on the request of the Commissariat, the Council, or a majority of the Assembly members.

Functions and Powers

The Commissariat will have extensive executive and supervisory functions. In the more important matters, however, the exercise of its powers is subject to the approval of the Council. Its functions include the establishment of plans for the organization, mobilization, and deployment of the European Defense Forces; the supervision of their recruitment and training; and the administration of their personnel. The Commissariat is also responsible for the preparation and execution of the budget, the common armaments program, and the Community's program of scientific and technical research. In the exercise of these functions, the Commissariat, like the High Authority of the Coal and Steel Community, will be responsible to the Assembly, which must review its work annually and which may compel its resignation by a two-thirds majority vote of censure.

The Assembly also participates in the establishment of the common budget, although its authority is limited by the treaty provision that it may not make budgetary changes that increase the total amount of expenditures above the figure set by the Council and that such budgetary changes, if opposed by the Commissariat or a member state, may be sustained only by a two-thirds majority vote of the Council. According to the

treaty, the Assembly will be entrusted with the task of studying modifications in the EDC structure, with a view to establishing a definitive political organization for the Community. An enlarged Assembly of the Coal and Steel Community has already begun such a study, which will be submitted to the EDC Assembly when it enters into operation.

The Council of Ministers, which has the general task of harmonizing the actions of the Commissariat with the policies of the member states, has sole authority in certain matters such as modification of the organization of the European Defense Forces, as established in the treaty, and determination of the financial contribution of member states. Moreover, the important actions of the Commissariat, such as the determination of the budget, the plans for the organization of the armed forces, and the appointment of the higher personnel, require the approval of the Council usually by unanimity or a twothirds majority. By a unanimous vote the Council may issue directives to the Commissariat.

The Court performs virtually the same functions relative to the European Defense Community as it does in connection with the Coal and Steel Community.

Relations With NATO

With the exception of the German Federal Republic, all the member states of the European Defense Community are participants in NATO, and the two organizations are closely linked by formal treaty relationships. A protocol to the EDC and North Atlantic treaties contains reciprocal guaranties of assistance between the member states of the two organizations. An additional protocol to the EDC treaty provides for consultation between the Councils of the two organizations, the maintenance of liaison between the Commissariat and the various NATO bodies, and the assignment of members of the European Defense Forces to the NATO command structure. According to treaty provisions, all European Defense Forces will be placed at the disposal of NATO, and the latter's recommendations regarding their deployment may be reiected only with the unanimous approval of the Council.

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