European Atomic Energy Community Europæiske Atomenergifællesskab (Danish) Europese Atoomenergie Gemeenschap (Dutch) Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (French) Europäische Atomgemeinschaft (German) Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα Ατομικής Ενέργειας (Greek) Comunità europea dell'energia atomica (Italian) Comunidade Europeia da Energia Atómica (Portuguese) Comunidad Europea de la Energía Atómica (Spanish) Comunitatea Europeană a Energiei Atomice (Romanian)
Flag of Europe
Member states   Participating associated states
Administrative body	European Commission
Official languages	24 languages
Type	International organisation
Members	EU member states Associated states:   Switzerland  United Kingdom
Establishment	1958
• Euratom Treaty	1 January 1958
• Merger Treaty	1 July 1967

The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nuclear energy and distributing it to its member states while selling the surplus to non-member states. However, over the years its scope has been considerably increased to cover a large variety of areas associated with nuclear power and ionising radiation as diverse as safeguarding of nuclear materials, radiation protection and construction of the International Fusion Reactor ITER.^[1]

It is legally distinct from the European Union (EU) although it has the same membership, and is governed by many of the EU's institutions; but it is the only remaining community organisation that is independent of the EU and therefore outside the regulatory control of the European Parliament. Since 2014, Switzerland has also participated in Euratom programmes as an associated state.^[2]

The United Kingdom ceased to be a full member of the organisation on 31 January 2020.^[3][4] However, under the terms of the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the United Kingdom participates in Euratom as an associated state following the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.^[5]

History

1 April 1957, Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein and Antonio Segni, signing the 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.^[6] 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).^[6]

During the negotiations to create Euratom, the United States and the United Kingdom sought to gain influence over nuclear development in Europe.^[6] 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.^[6] 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.^[6]

The 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 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.^[7]

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 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 EEC Treaty) were signed by the six ECSC members and on 1 January 1958 they came into force.^{[6][8][9][10]}

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 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.^[11][12][13] The Euratom treaty thus remains in force relatively unamended from its original signing.

EU evolution timeline

This overall timeline includes the establishment and development of Euratom, and shows that currently, it is the only former EC body that has not been incorporated into the EU.

Since the end of World War II, sovereign European countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (or pooled sovereignty) in an increasing number of areas, in the European integration project or the construction of Europe (French: la construction européenne). The following timeline outlines the legal inception of the European Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its present responsibilities from the European Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of the Schuman Declaration.

Legend:   S: signing   F: entry into force   T: termination   E: expiry     de facto supersession   Rel. w/ EC/EU framework:    de facto inside    outside

European Union (EU)

[Cont.]

European Communities (EC)

(Pillar I)

European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom)

[Cont.]

/ / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

(Distr. of competences)

European Economic Community (EEC)

Schengen Rules

European Community (EC)

'TREVI'

Justice and Home Affairs (JHA, pillar II)

/ North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

[Cont.]

Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC, pillar II)

Anglo-French alliance

[Defence arm handed to NATO]

European Political Co-operation (EPC)

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, pillar III)

Western Union (WU)

/ Western European Union (WEU)

[Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU]

[Social, cultural tasks handed to CoE]

[Cont.]

Council of Europe (CoE)

Entente Cordiale S: 8 April 1904

Dunkirk Treaty[lower-roman 1] S: 4 March 1947 F: 8 September 1947 E: 8 September 1997

Brussels Treaty[lower-roman 1] S: 17 March 1948 F: 25 August 1948 T: 30 June 2011

London and Washington treaties[lower-roman 1] S: 5 May/4 April 1949 F: 3 August/24 August 1949

Paris treaties: ECSC and EDC[lower-roman 2] S: 18 April 1951/27 May 1952 F: 23 July 1952/— E: 23 July 2002/—

Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty[lower-roman 1] S: 23 October 1954 F: 6 May 1955

Rome treaties: EEC and EAEC S: 25 March 1957 F: 1 January 1958

WEU-CoE agreement[lower-roman 1] S: 21 October 1959 F: 1 January 1960

Brussels (Merger) Treaty[lower-roman 3] S: 8 April 1965 F: 1 July 1967

Davignon report S: 27 October 1970

European Council conclusions S: 2 December 1975

Single European Act (SEA) S: 17/28 February 1986 F: 1 July 1987

Schengen Treaty and Convention S: 14 June 1985/19 June 1990 F: 26 March 1995

Maastricht Treaty[lower-roman 4][lower-roman 5] S: 7 February 1992 F: 1 November 1993

Amsterdam Treaty S: 2 October 1997 F: 1 May 1999

Nice Treaty S: 26 February 2001 F: 1 February 2003

Lisbon Treaty[lower-roman 6] S: 13 December 2007 F: 1 December 2009

Cooperation

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• Since 2014, Switzerland has participated in Euratom programmes as an associated state.^[2]
• Since January 2021, the United Kingdom participates in Euratom programmes as an associated state under the terms of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.^[5][14]
• As of 2024, Euratom maintains Co-operation Agreements of various scopes with ten countries: Armenia,^[15] Australia,^[16] Canada,^[17] India,^[18] Japan,^[19] Kazakhstan,^[20] South Africa,^[21] Ukraine,^[22] United States,^[23] and Uzbekistan.^[24]

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom announced its intention to withdraw from the EAEC on 26 January 2017, following on from its decision to withdraw from the European Union.^{[14][25][26][27]} Formal notice to withdraw from the EAEC was provided in March 2017, within the Article 50 notification letter, where the withdrawal was made explicit.^[28] Withdrawal only became effective following negotiations on the terms of the exit, which lasted two years and ten months.

A report by the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, published in May 2017, questioned the legal necessity of leaving Euratom and called for a temporary extension of membership to allow time for new arrangements to be made.^[29]

In June 2017, the European Commission's negotiations task force published a Position paper transmitted to EU27 on nuclear materials and safeguard equipment (Euratom), titled "Essential Principles on nuclear materials and safeguard equipment".^[30] The following month, a briefing paper from the House of Commons Library assessed the implications of leaving Euratom.^[31]

In 2017, an article in The Independent questioned the availability of nuclear fuel to the UK after 2019 if the UK were to withdraw, and the need for new treaties relating to the transportation of nuclear materials.^[32] A 2017 article in the New Scientist stated that radioisotope supply for cancer treatments would also need to be considered in new treaties.^[33]

UK politicians speculated that the UK could stay in Euratom. In 2017, some argued that this would require – beyond the consent of the EU27 – amendment or revocation of the Article 50 letter of March 2017.^[34]

The Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018, making provision for safeguards after withdrawal from Euratom, received royal assent on 26 June 2018.^[35]

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, outlining the UK's relationship with the European Union from 1 January 2021, makes provision for the United Kingdom's participation "as an associated country of all parts of the Euratom programme".^[5]

Achievements

In the history of European regulation, Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty represents pioneering legislation concerning binding transfrontier obligations with respect to environmental impact and protection of humans.^[36]

President

The five-member Commission was led by only three presidents while it had independent executives (1958–1967), all from France:

N.	Portrait	President (Born–Died)	State	Took office	Left office	Commission	Party	Group		Electoral mandate	Refs
1		Louis Armand (1905–1971)	France	7 January 1958	2 February 1959	Armand	Independent		None	–
				1 year, 26 days
2		Étienne Hirsch (1901–1994)	France	2 February 1959	10 January 1962	Hirsch	Independent		None	–
				3 years, 8 days
3		Pierre Chatenet (1917–1997)	France	10 January 1962	5 July 1967	Chatenet	Independent		None	–
				5 years, 176 days

See also

• EU Directorate General Joint Research Centre – often incorrectly referred to as Euratom due to EURATOM being its origin.
• Energy Community
• Energy policy of the European Union
• History of the European Union
• Institutions of the European Union
• International Atomic Energy Agency
• Nuclear energy in the European Union
• The nuclear part of the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development, the European Union's chief instrument for funding research.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to European Atomic Energy Community.

• Official website
• Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) (consolidated version)
• Documents of the European Atomic Energy Community are consultable at the Historical Archives of the EU in Florence
• History of the Rome Treaties Online collection by the CVCE
• European Commission Fusion Research
• European Commission Fission Research