The European Community

Abstract

The two world wars convinced statesmen in western European countries that some form of political unity was desirable, and in 1949 the Council of Europe was created — the basis, it was hoped, of a European parliament. But organisations with definite functions — the Organisation for European Economic Cooperative (founded in 1948), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (1949) and the Western European Union (1954) proved more fruitful than did the Council of Europe with its broad aims.