On 27 June 1956, the day after the start of the Val Duchesse negotiations, the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) drafts a note that analyses the impact of labour costs on competition and on the cost price of production, based on the experience of the ECSC. One of the main arguments put forward in France against the policy of European economic integration is that social security charges, employee contributions and taxes in France are higher and therefore weigh more heavily on cost prices than in other European countries. This situation would lead to distortions of competition in an overall Common Market and would put the French economy at a disadvantage.