European Community In pursuance of its policy of containment of communism, as we have seen, the USA came out with the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan to support the war-torn European countries to reconstruct their economy. An organisation, OEEC (Organisation for European Economic Cooperation) was formed in April to overseer the disbursement of Marshall Aid under the auspices of the European Recovery Programme (ERP). The OEEC disbursed aid to its sixteen member countries. The US wanted the OEEC to remove tariff barriers between themselves so that it was easier for American companies to do business.
OEEC obliged and followed free trade in for obtaining further financial aid. With the US aid, by , the western European countries had returned to their pre-war production levels. The success made them to move forward and OEEC transformed itself into the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) in , adding the USA and Canada to the original membership of West European countries. Japan joined in .
OEEC Charter Today there are thirty-seven member countries in OECD from all around the world. Most of them are developed countries. They are all committed to the concept of free market economy and democracy. It has its headquarters in Paris.
Towards European Union Council of Europe One of the momentous decisions taken in the post-World War II era was to integrate the states of western Europe. In May ten countries met in London and signed to form a Council of Europe. The Council of Europe with headquarters at Strasbourg was established with a committee of foreign ministers of member countries and a Consultative Assembly, drawn from the parliaments of foreign countries. European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Schuman Konrad