The Treaty of Rome of 1957 and the French Automobile Industry: an institutional innovation?

Abstract:

In 2017 it will be the 50th anniversary of the signature of the Treaty of Rome. The European automobile industry was concerned from the very first moment about the likely impact of the Treaty on the national oligopolies which had dominated in its member states, some of which were the most important automobile producers of the world like France, Germany or Italy. This paper will present the various stages of the negotiations of the Treaty of Rome and the way the French automobile industry was divided about whether to adhere or not to this project which had at its core the creation of a supranational market. It will conclude by pointing out to the institutional innovations that the creation of the European Economic Community (today the European Union) represented for the automobile industry.