On 20 March 1957, René Mayer, President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), forwards to Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, a letter in which he informs him of the position taken by the High Authority on the powers and responsibilities of the new institutions provided for by the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).