The Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community

Present day European Parliament 

In 1951 the Treaty of Paris established the Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). It was the second European Parliament of the history after the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe created in 1949 through the Treaty of London.

The Assembly of the ECSC was formed by 78 deputies distributed between France (18), Germany (18), Italy (18), Netherlands (10), Belgium (10) and Luxembourg (4) following a yearly basis by the National Assemblies between their members or directly by the people through elections. So the Assembly was aimed to represent national peoples from the ECSC electing President and Vice-presidents between their members on a yearly basis. Ordinary sessions were scheduled on the first Tuesday of May without passing December 31st but it was possible to call for extraordinary sessions solicited by the Council, the High Authority or the majority of the chamber. Each member of the Council or the High Authority was entitled to assist or speak to the chamber whenever it wanted to do so.

But the Assembly of the ECSC, in sharp contrast with ordinary Assemblies in democratic countries, was only entitled to have functions of control over the High Authority neglecting legislative functions reserved only to the High Authority. So, its main function was limited to heard yearly a General report from the High Authority on the activity of the ECSC admitting the possibility to rebuke it and linking its refusal with a Motion of no Confidence able to overthrow the High Authority in the event of having a two-thirds support representing it the absolute majority of the chamber. Another possibility of control towards the High Authority was the possibility by the members of submitting questions to the High Authority answered in oral or written form.

The Assembly of the ECSC wasn't certainly the first European parliament on history but it more much better than the first: the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe. It was merely consultive being absolutely subjugated to the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe but the Assembly of the ECSC in spite of its lack of legislative functions had the faculty of dethroning the High Authority himself. Only for this fact, the Assembly of the ECSC represented an authentic leap forward and an authentic promise for a common European state.