Editing Euratom (section)

==History==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-45653-0001, Rom, Verträge über Zollpakt und Eurotom unterzeichnet.jpg|thumb|left|1 April 1957, [[Konrad Adenauer]], [[Walter Hallstein]] and [[Antonio Segni]], signing the [[European Union Customs Union|European customs union]] and Euratom in Rome, Italy]]

The driving force behind the creation of Euratom was France's desire to develop nuclear energy and nuclear weapons without having to rely on the United States and/or the United Kingdom.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Nieburg |first=H. L. |date=1963 |title=EURATOM: A Study in Coalition Politics |journal=World Politics |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=597–622 |doi=10.2307/2009458 |jstor=2009458 |s2cid=153589335 |issn=1086-3338}}</ref> The costs of nuclear development were also large, motivating France to share the costs with the other members of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] (ECSC).<ref name=":2" />

During the negotiations to create Euratom, the United States and the United Kingdom sought to gain influence over nuclear development in Europe.<ref name=":2" /> The US and the UK created the [[European Nuclear Energy Agency]] (ENEA) as a way to limit the value of Euratom and gain influence over the spread of nuclear technology.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Soviet Union]] launched a propaganda campaign against Euratom, as it sought to stoke fears among Europeans that the organization would enable West Germany to develop nuclear weapons.<ref name=":2" />

The [[European Parliament|Common Assembly]] proposed extending the powers of the ECSC to cover other sources of energy. However, [[Jean Monnet]], ECSC architect and President, wanted a separate community to cover [[nuclear power]]. [[Louis Armand]] was put in charge of a study into the prospects of nuclear energy use in Europe; his report concluded that further nuclear development was needed to fill the deficit left by the exhaustion of coal deposits and to [[energy security|reduce dependence]] on oil producers. However, the [[Benelux]] states and Germany were also keen on creating a general [[single market]], although it was opposed by France due to its [[protectionism]], and Jean Monnet thought it too large and difficult a task. In the end, Monnet proposed the creation of separate atomic energy and economic communities to reconcile both groups.<ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/1957_1968_successes_and_crises-en-5136b72a-0de2-4636-bda0-27e58b6c83e8.html 1957–1968 Successes and crises] CVCE</ref>

The [[Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom]] at the [[Château of Val-Duchesse]] in 1956 drew up the essentials of the new treaties. Euratom would foster cooperation in the nuclear field, at the time a very popular area, and would, along with the EEC, share the Common Assembly and [[European Court of Justice|Court of Justice]] of the ECSC, but not its executives. Euratom would have its own Council and Commission, with fewer powers than the [[High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community]]. On 25 March 1957, the Treaties of Rome (the [[Euratom Treaty]] and the [[Treaty of Rome|EEC Treaty]]) were signed by the six [[Inner Six|ECSC members]] and on 1 January 1958 they came into force.<ref name=":2" /><ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/a_european_atomic_energy_community-en-19bc7f11-bea1-49c7-b534-18327c303f41.html A European Atomic Energy Community] CVCE</ref><ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_signing_of_the_rome_treaties-en-2f643b3d-aba2-422c-8a94-79a0531e6559.html The signing of the Rome Treaties] CVCE</ref><ref>[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/drafting_of_the_rome_treaties-en-8efe2279-ee12-4a75-aeeb-0bd547f4128f.html Drafting of the Rome Treaties] CVCE</ref>

To save on resources, these separate executives created by the Rome Treaties were merged in 1965 by the [[Merger Treaty]]. The institutions of the EEC would take over responsibilities for the running of the ECSC and Euratom, with all three then becoming known as the [[European Communities]] even if each legally existed separately. In 1993, the [[Maastricht Treaty]] created the European Union, which absorbed the Communities into the [[European Community]] pillar, yet Euratom still maintained a distinct legal personality.

The [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|European Constitution]] was intended to consolidate all previous treaties and increase democratic accountability in them. The Euratom treaty had not been amended as the other treaties had, so the [[European Parliament]] had been granted few powers over it. However, the reason it had gone unamended was the same reason the Constitution left it to remain separate from the rest of the EU: anti-nuclear sentiment among the European electorate, which may unnecessarily turn voters against the treaty.<ref>[http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/euratom-nuking-europe-s-futur/ Euratom: nuking Europe's future] Greenpeace International, 9 July 2003</ref><ref>[http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2003/MJ_03_March_declaration.htm One hundred civil society groups say abolish Euratom!] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523190508/http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2003/MJ_03_March_declaration.htm |date=23 May 2008 }} Friends of the Earth Europe, 3 March 2003</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eu-energy.com/euratom-reform.htm|title=Euratom Loans|website=www.eu-energy.com}}</ref> The Euratom treaty thus remains in force relatively unamended from its original signing.

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