Political and economic alliance consisting of
the European Coal and Steel Community (1952),
European Economic Community (EEC, popularly
called the Common Market, 1957), and the
European Atomic Energy Commission (Euratom,
1957). The original six members - Belgium,
France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and
the Netherlands - were joined by the UK,
Denmark, and the Republic of Ireland 1974,
Greece 1981, Spain and Portugal 1985. From
1967 the EC has comprised the following
institutions: the Commission of 13 members
pledged to independence of national
interests, who initiate Community action; the
Council of Ministers, which makes decisions
on the Commission's proposals; the European
Parliament, directly elected from 1979, which
is mainly a consultative body but can dismiss
the Commission; and the European Court of
Justice, to safeguard interpretation of the
Rome Treaties (1957) that established the
Community. In 1990 there were 320 million
people in the EC countries. Almost 60% of the
EC's budget is spent on supporting farmers
(about 4 million people); of this, 4 billion
a year goes to dairy farmers, because the
dairy quotas, which were introduced 1984, are
14% greater than EC consumption. The EC sheep
policy cost over 1.7 billion in 1990, and 30
million tonnes of excess grain is exported
every year at a subsidized price. Altogether
it cost member countries' taxpayers almost 9
billion in 1989-90 to maintain the
international competitiveness of the EC's
overpriced produce under the Common
Agricultural Policy.