The Control of Cartels by European Coal and Steel Community (1952-1954) with Special Reference to the Control of Cartels Formed by French Steel Enterprises

Abstract

The treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (Paris Treaty) was signed by representatives of France, Germany, Italy and Benelux countries in April 1951. In August 1953, the nine members of the High Authority (Haute Autorite), the administrative organ of the community, came together for the first time in Luxembourg, and the community began its operation. The Paris Treaty forbade the private agreements and concentrations of enterprises restraining trade and competition in the common market of coal and steel. How the High Authority of the community has controled cartels and concentrations? The aime of this article is to analyse the cartel policy of the High Authority with special referrence to the control of cartels formed by French steel enteprises. The French steel enterprises organised Comptoir Frangais des Produits Siderurgiques, the common agency which sold steel, and other comptoirs, common agencies which sold products or baught raw materials. In 1953, High Authority began to examine agreements and to judge if these comptoirs were violate the Paris Treaty. In the begining, the Division Agreements and Concentrations of the High Authority had suspected that these comptoirs had been violate the treaty. But when the Section of Justice of the High Authority insisted that they were not in violation of the treaty in 1954, the Division Agreements and Concentration accepted the opinion of the Section immediately. Recognizing these comptoirs of French steel enterprises to be lawful, the High Authority concluded the examination. The cause of this decision was that the High Authority did not intende to control severely comptoirs, because the action of the comptoirs could prevent a harmful inflation and distribute reasonably the steel products.