# Euratom Treaty

The Euratom Treaty, officially the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, established the European Atomic Energy Community. It was signed on 25 March 1957 at the same time as the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC Treaty).
The Euratom Treaty is less well known because of the lower profile of the organisation that it founded. The EEC has evolved into what is now the European Union, but Euratom has remained much the same as it was in 1957 although it is governed by the institutions of the European Union. It was established with its own Commission and Council, but the 1967 Merger Treaty merged these institutions of Euratom and the European Coal and Steel Community with those of the EEC.
The Euratom treaty has seen very little amendment because of later sensitivity surrounding nuclear power in European public opinion. That has caused some to argue that it has become too outdated, particularly in the areas of democratic oversight. It was not included as part of the (unratified) Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which sought to combine all previous treaties, over fears that including nuclear power in the treaty would turn more people against it. Nevertheless, it is one of the active treaties of the European Union.

## Background and timeline

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 | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | 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) | European Union (EU) | European Union (EU) | European Union (EU) | [Cont.] |
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | | | | | | European Communities (EC) | European Communities (EC) | European Communities (EC) | European Communities (EC) | European Communities (EC) | (Pillar I) | (Pillar I) | (Pillar I) | | [Cont.] |
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | | | | | | European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) | European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) | European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) | European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) | European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) | | | | [Cont.] | [Cont.] |
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | | | | | | / / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) | / / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) | / / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) | / / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) | / / / European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) | | | | (Distr. of competences) | [Cont.] |
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | | | | | | European Economic Community (EEC) | European Economic Community (EEC) | European Economic Community (EEC) | European Economic Community (EEC) | European Economic Community (EEC) | | | | | (Distr. of competences) | [Cont.] |
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | | | | | | | | | | Schengen Rules | Schengen Rules | European Community (EC) | European Community (EC) | | (Distr. of competences) | [Cont.] |
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | | | | | | | | TREVI | TREVI | TREVI | Justice and Home Affairs (JHA, pillar II) | | | | (Distr. of competences) | [Cont.] |
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside | | / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | [Cont.] | | | | TREVI | TREVI | TREVI | Justice and Home Affairs (JHA, pillar II) | Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC, pillar II) | Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC, pillar II) | | (Distr. of competences) | [Cont.] |
| Anglo-French alliance | Anglo-French alliance | [Defence arm handed to NATO] | [Defence arm handed to NATO] | / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | [Cont.] | | | European Political Co-operation (EPC) | European Political Co-operation (EPC) | European Political Co-operation (EPC) | European Political Co-operation (EPC) | | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, pillar III) | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, pillar III) | | (Distr. of competences) | [Cont.] |
| Anglo-French alliance | Anglo-French alliance | Western Union (WU) | Western Union (WU) | Western Union (WU) | / Western European Union (WEU) | / Western European Union (WEU) | / Western European Union (WEU) | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984 reactivation handed to the EU] | | | | | | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, pillar III) | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP, pillar III) | (Distr. of competences) | [Cont.] |
| Anglo-French alliance | Anglo-French alliance | Western Union (WU) | Western Union (WU) | Western Union (WU) | [Social, cultural tasks handed to CoE] | [Social, cultural tasks handed to CoE] | [Cont.] | | | | | | | | | vte | vte |
| | | | Council of Europe (CoE) | Council of Europe (CoE) | Council of Europe (CoE) | Council of Europe (CoE) | | | | [Cont.] | | | | | | | | | vte | vte |
| Entente Cordiale S: 8 April 1904 | Dunkirk Treaty S: 4 March 1947 F: 8 September 1947 E: 8 September 1997 | Brussels Treaty S: 17 March 1948 F: 25 August 1948 T: 30 June 2011 | London and Washington treaties S: 5 May/4 April 1949 F: 3 August/24 August 1949 | Paris treaties: ECSC and EDC S: 18 April 1951/27 May 1952 F: 23 July 1952/— E: 23 July 2002/— | Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty S: 23 October 1954 F: 6 May 1955 | Rome treaties: EEC and EAEC S: 25 March 1957 F: 1 January 1958 | WEU-CoE agreement S: 21 October 1959 F: 1 January 1960 | Brussels (Merger) Treaty 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 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 S: 13 December 2007 F: 1 December 2009 | Lisbon Treaty S: 13 December 2007 F: 1 December 2009 |
* 1 2 3 4 5 Although not EU treaties per se, these treaties affected the development of the EU defence arm, a main part of the CFSP. The Franco-British alliance established by the Dunkirk Treaty was de facto superseded by WU. The CFSP pillar was bolstered by some of the security structures that had been established within the remit of the 1955 Modified Brussels Treaty (MBT). The Brussels Treaty was terminated in 2011, consequently dissolving the WEU, as the mutual defence clause that the Lisbon Treaty provided for EU was considered to render the WEU superfluous. The EU thus de facto superseded the WEU.
* ↑ Plans to establish a European Political Community (EPC) were shelved following the French failure to ratify the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC). The EPC would have combined the ECSC and the EDC.
* ↑ The European Communities obtained common institutions and a shared legal personality (i.e. ability to e.g. sign treaties in their own right).
* ↑ The treaties of Maastricht and Rome form the EU's legal basis, and are also referred to as the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), respectively. They are amended by secondary treaties.
* ↑ Between the EU's founding in 1993 and consolidation in 2009, the union consisted of three pillars, the first of which were the European Communities. The other two pillars consisted of additional areas of cooperation that had been added to the EU's remit.
* ↑ The consolidation meant that the EU inherited the European Communities' legal personality and that the pillar system was abolished, resulting in the EU framework as such covering all policy areas. Executive/legislative power in each area was instead determined by a distribution of competencies between EU institutions and member states. This distribution, as well as treaty provisions for policy areas in which unanimity is required and qualified majority voting is possible, reflects the depth of EU integration as well as the EU's partly supranational and partly intergovernmental nature.