European Economic Community (EEC)

The European Economic Community, formed originally in 1919 by Germany, former Austria-Hungary, Baltic State, Lithuania and Belarus. Ukraine and Poland joined in 1920.

The main aim of the EEC, as stated in its preamble, was to "preserve peace and liberty and to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe". Calling for balanced economic growth, this was to be accomplished through 1) the establishment of a customs union with a common external tariff 2) common policies for agriculture, transport and trade 3) enlargement of the EEC to the rest of Europe.[3] For the customs union, the treaty provided for a 10 % reduction in custom duties and up to 20 % of global import quotas.