The First Case of the Court of Justice
The Court of Justice of the European Union sits upon a hill, in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg, in a grand modern high-rise with a sizable campus. The twenty-seven judge court is the final arbiter of European Union Law—responsible for ensuring its equal application across the borders of its respective member states. The court is one of the largest supranational institutions, affecting its decisions across a community with nearly 450 million citizens. The court’s facility overlooks the municipal hall located at the city’s center, where it humbly first sat decades prior.
World War II brought a shortage of metallurgical (coking) coal, affecting the steel markets of much of Europe. Trying to address the root cause of the last world conflict—economic turmoil in Germany—political leaders from western Europe met to negotiate a solution. In 1949 a council composed of representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Benelux countries was established to regulate the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr area in West Germany. The Ruhr—a region of Germany near the border of France—was the backbone of the West German steel industry. Preventing aggression between France and Germany was fundamental to prevent a future war, and external administration of the German economy was not an effective long-term solution. To solve this, negotiations began between agents of Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. On April 18th, 1951, a treaty was signed creating the European Coal and Steel Community. This organization integrated Europe's coal and steel industries into a single common market. The treaty erected four principal governing institutions: the Special Council of Ministers, the High Authority (the executive body), the Common Assembly, and lastly, the Court of Justice.
This Court of Justice looked different than it does today. With six member states in 1951, the court totaled seven judges—twenty less than today’s. The court initially sat at the Villa Vauban in Luxembourg, but the facilities proved too cramped. After negotiations with the Office of the Minister of Public Works, the court was temporarily stationed in the municipal hall of the city—until permanent accommodations could be constructed.
Over the next decade, the Coal and Steel Community expanded to partner with affiliated atomic energy and economic communities, and would eventually merge into today’s “European Union.” As this transformation occurred the principal institutions would change to meet the needs of the new structure—the Court of Justice maintained its perennial purpose. As the premier—supreme—court of the community, it serves as a unique sui generis geopolitical operation with authority to interpret European treaties and statute. It sits atop an interconnected matrix of member state courts, tribunals, and quasi-judicial bodies.
The first case that went before this “European Supreme Court” stemmed from a technical bureaucratic decision issued on the 7th of January, 1954 by the High Authority. This case disputed a reversal by the High Authority, pertaining to the definition of a "discriminatory" steel market sale action. The High Authority’s original definition marked an obligation for each party to publish their list prices before entering into the sale and strictly restricted them to those prices. Less than a year later, the High Authority eased these rules, allowing for variation from the original listing. The French Government challenged this reversal, claiming that the High Authority had infringed the treaty and misused its power. This project will walk you through this decision—starting with the context of the community, explaining the decisions and meetings that brought this case to fruition, and concluding with facts of the trial itself. This is where this institution began, and the purpose of this project is to tell that story.
This research was conducted through the funding and oversight of American University’s Public Affairs and Policy Lab (PAPL). This project was executed through various qualitative research methods to produce a linear telling of events surrounding this case. In order to gather relevant primary sources, this research required engagement with numerous Europe-based international, national, and local archives. Those archival documents were then processed and translated to conduct a historical analysis.
