European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), administrative agency established by a treaty ratified in 1952, designed to integrate the coal and steel industries in western Europe. The original members of the ECSC were France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Fourteen months elapsed between the signing of the Treaty institutionalising the ECSC and the last ratifying vote in June 1952. Only then did the International Ruhr Authority ceilings on steel production disappear. The High Authority's head quarters were established in Luxembourg with Jean Monnet as President, 10 August 1952.