Plans for European sectoral union
Plans for European union at sectoral level
The success of the Schuman Plan inspired a number of similar projects, particularly in the fields of chemicals, electricity, fisheries (blue pool), aeronautical construction, transport, public health (white pool) and agriculture (green pool). All of them failed for various reasons: some because of technical problems, others because of the divergent political and economic interests prevailing in the various countries. Moreover, these projects, although often modelled on the coal and steel pool, seemed less urgent, and numerous reservations were voiced by the professionals concerned. A supranational approach no longer seemed appropriate for these proposals, which were inspired more by economic than political considerations. However, two of these projects — the green pool and political union — seemed to be forerunners of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and the European Union (EU).