From its establishment, the ECSC has at its disposal own resources generated by a direct levy on coal and steel undertakings. The High Authority Decision No 2-52 ECSC of 23 December 1952 determines the methods of assessment and of collection of these levies.
Discussion between Dirk Spierenburg (on the left), Dutch Member of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and René Mayer (on the right), President of the High Authority.
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.
On 11 November 1950, Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, Head of the General Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs at the French High Commission in Germany, drafts a short note on the attitude that the British might adopt were the International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR) to cease to exist following the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
On 20 October 1949, six months after the establishment of the International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR), the Allied High Commission for Germany promulgates the law on the privileges and immunities of the IAR.
On 19 February 1955, the French daily newspaper Le Monde considers the solutions put forward by the High Authority with a view to maintaining the economic stability of the European coal sector.
In March 1960, the monthly publication Communauté européenne announces the retraining of 110 000 workers as a result of aid provided by the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
On 9 June 1955, during a radio broadcast on the occasion of his resignation from the post of President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), Jean Monnet emphasises the importance of the Common Market and of the United States of Europe for the future of all Europeans.
On 22 December 1954, the French daily newspaper Le Monde considers the role of the ECSC High Authority and outlines the British Government’s cautious approach to the agreement concerning relations between the United Kingdom and the European Coal and Steel Community.