Editing European Economic Community (section)

===Creation and early years===
The resulting communities were the European Economic Community (EEC) and the [[Euratom|European Atomic Energy Community]] (EURATOM or sometimes EAEC). These were markedly less supranational than the previous communities,{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} due to protests from some countries that their [[sovereignty]] was being infringed (however there would still be concerns with the behaviour of the [[Hallstein Commission]]). Germany became a founding member of the EEC, and Konrad Adenauer was made leader in a very short time. The first formal meeting of the [[Hallstein Commission]] was held on 16 January 1958 at the [[Château of Val-Duchesse|Château de Val-Duchesse]]. The EEC (direct ancestor of the modern Community) was to create a [[customs union]] while Euratom would promote co-operation in the [[nuclear power]] sphere. The EEC rapidly became the most important of these and expanded its activities. The first move towards political developments came at the end of 1959 when the foreign ministers of the six members announced that would be meeting quarterly to discuss political issues and international problems.<ref>European Parliament Political Committee 'Towards Political Union', General Directorate Parliamentary Documentation and Information, January 1964, p. 5.</ref> 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 removed on certain products.

[[File:De Gaulle-OWI.jpg|thumb|[[French President]] [[Charles de Gaulle]] vetoed British membership, held back the development of Parliament's powers and was at the centre of the 'empty chair crisis' of 1965.]]
Another crisis was triggered in regard to proposals for the financing of the [[Common Agricultural Policy]], which came into force in 1962. The transitional period whereby decisions were made by unanimity had come to an end, and majority-voting in the council had taken effect. Then-[[President of France|French President]] [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s opposition to supranationalism and fear of the other members challenging the CAP led to an "empty chair policy" whereby French representatives were withdrawn from the European institutions until the French veto was reinstated. Eventually, a compromise was reached with the [[Luxembourg compromise]] on 29 January 1966 whereby a [[gentlemen's agreement]] permitted members to use a veto on areas of national interest.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Horsley|first=William|date=19 March 2007|title=Fifty years of fraternal rivalry|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6453889.stm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820132441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6453889.stm|archive-date=20 August 2023|website=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_empty_chair_policy-en-f6d19361-9a7a-4e39-ae93-0f898e652d85.html|title=The 'empty chair' policy|date=7 August 2016|website=CVCE Website|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101015242/https://www.cvce.eu/obj/the_empty_chair_policy-en-f6d19361-9a7a-4e39-ae93-0f898e652d85.html|archive-date=1 November 2022}}</ref>

On 1 July 1967, when the [[Merger Treaty]] came into operation, combining the institutions of the ECSC and Euratom into that of the EEC, they already shared a [[European Parliament|Parliamentary Assembly]] and [[European Court of Justice|Courts]]. Collectively they were known as the ''[[European Communities]]''. The Communities still had independent personalities although were increasingly integrated. Future treaties granted the community new powers beyond simple economic matters which had achieved a high level of integration. As it got closer to the goal of political integration and a peaceful and united Europe, what [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] described as a ''[[Common European Home]]''.