High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community

“ With the concurrence of the Council acting by unanimous vote, the High Authority may assist by the same means in financing works and installations which contribute directly and principally to increase production, lower production costs or facilitate marketing of products subject to its jurisdiction. ”

“ The members of the High Authority may not exercise any business or professional activities, paid or unpaid, nor acquire or hold, directly or indirectly, any interest in any business related to coal and steel during their term of office or for a period of three years thereafter.
Article 10 The governments of the member States shall designate eight members of the High Authority by agreement among themselves. These eight members will elect a ninth member, who shall be deemed elected if he receives at least five votes. ”

“ In addition, for the categories of workers not falling within the provisions of the preceding paragraph and where an expansion of production in the coal and steel industries might be hampered by a shortage of qualified labor, they will adapt their immigration regulations to the extent necessary to eliminate that situation; in particular, they will facilitate the reemployment of workers from the coal and steel industries of other member States. ”

“ TITLE ONE - The European Coal and Steel Community Article 1 By the present Treaty the HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES institute among themselves a EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY, based on a common market, common objectives, and common institutions.
Article 2 The mission of the European Coal and Steel Community is to contribute to economic expansion, the development of employment and the improvement of the standard of living in the participating countries through the institution, in harmony with the general economy of the member States, of a common market as defined in Article 4. ”

“ If, after consulting the Consultative Committee, the High Authority finds that the Community is faced with a serious shortage of certain or all of the products subject to its jurisdiction, and that the means of action provided for in Article 57 do not enable it to cope with the situation, it shall bring this situation to the attention of the Council, and, unless the Council decides otherwise by unanimous vote, shall propose the necessary measures. ”

“ These decisions shall not prevent enterprises from aligning their quotations on the prices offered by enterprises outside the Community, provided that such transactions are reported to the High Authority ”

“ Central heating and power plants that can burn coal efficiently will no doubt be more popular and numerous in a few years. Government control and legislation may be expected to hasten the changes. In Europe the technique of coal mining, except in undercutting machinery, is further advanced than in the United States, as regards mining all the coal and in supporting the surface. ”

“ They also discussed plans for the Working Group to begin engaging a variety of diverse stakeholders who will be critical partners in the Working Group’s efforts to support local coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities, including state, local, and Tribal officials, labor unions, business leaders, environmental justice organizations, and community groups. ”

“ In general, it may be said that the control of the anthracite coal business by the great corporations, rather than by individual operators, is an undoubted benefit, not only to all the parties in direct interest, but to commerce and society as a whole. The only danger to be feared is from an abuse of the great powers to which these companies have attained; a danger which, thus far, has not seriously menaced the community. ”

“ They make no allowance for the diminution in working hours and the lack of transportation. In short, unless there is a miraculous recovery and development of Germany's coal industry, impossible conditions have been imposed. Some recognition of this fact appears in the great powers to adjust terms which have been vested in the Reparations Committee. Successive revisions of requirements by the Reparations Committee have already reduced the direct contributions of coal from Germany nearly fifty per cent. The entire European coal situation is in a state of chaos. ”

“ It will continue to push forward the development and integration of coal resources by renovating medium- and small-sized coal mines and closing down, in accordance with the law, small ones not conforming to industrial policies, with poor safety conditions, wasting resources and harming the environment, so as to further optimize the structure of the coal industry. It will promote the coordinated development of related industries, and encourage coal-electricity joint operation or coal-electricity-transport integrated management, so as to extend the coal industry chain. ”

“ No natural substance is so universally used, and so necessary to every individual, as coal, and hence every individual feels a natural right to it, and believes that it should be available at a minimum cost. This has resulted in several countries in the nationalization of the coal industry, as in parts of Chile, Bulgaria, Prussia, and Australia. In other countries, as in parts of the United States, the government retains the ownership of coal lands, leasing them to private operators. In England the present conditions point toward the nationalization of the coal industry. ”

“ The production of coal in Congress Poland and Galicia does not suffice to cover the requirements of the countries at present constituting the Polish State. The Reparations Committee assigned to Poland only 250,000 tons of coal per month from Silesia; and the Polish Coal Sub-Committee has granted a lump sum of 450,000 tons of coal. This lack of coal is one of the most serious hindrances to the reorganization of Polish industry. ”

“ Certain parts of the earth, such as Wales, the Saar Basin and Newfoundland contain coal deposits upon which the entire industrial society is dependent for its survival. It is, then, a matter of the gravest importance to secure a maximum coal output, at least to the point of satisfying the minimum demands of the community. Whatever men and machinery are required to produce the ration of coal upon which industrial efficiency depends must be directed toward that goal. At the same time, waste, inefficiency and dis-employment, whether of men or of machines must be reduced to a minimum. ”

“ The structure of this government and its basic laws are written into collective contracts, which, together with the policies formulated by the two parties through their national organizations, must be our guides in the quest for an answer to the question as to how, short of the autocratic control of the Fuel Administration, the coal industry is to be developed into an integrated, dependably governed, public service. ”

“ With a commitment to using approaches consistent with market principles and the rule of law, we will strictly enforce environmental protection, quality, and safety laws, regulations, and standards, and ease overcapacity and close down outdated production facilities. This year, we will further cut steel production capacity by around 30 million metric tons and coal production capacity by approximately 150 million metric tons. Coal-fired power generating units with a capacity of less than 300,000 kilowatts that fail to meet standards will be closed. ”

“ Of the important coal-producing countries, only the German Empire, more or less openly, has fostered in peace times the coal industry and to some extent controlled it. In France there was only an indirect control, through the control by the government of the concessions and taxation of revenues and through tacit knowledge of the operations of the French coal syndicate, which ostensibly at least obtains and disseminates information and conducts mine safety investigations. ”

“ Article 3 Within the framework of their respective powers and responsibilities and in the common interest, the institutions of the Community shall:
(a) see that the common market is regularly supplied, taking account of the needs of third countries;
(b) assure to all consumers in comparable positions within the common market equal access to the sources of production ”

“ The neutral manufacturing States must do the bidding of that belligerent who can guarantee a supply of coal. We cannot do this at present in a sufficient degree, and are to-day already compelled to fall back upon the Belgian coal supply, in order not to let our neutral neighbours become entirely dependent upon England. ”

“ An interagency task force has just reported to me on a series of measures we need to take to increase coal production and exports. This report builds on the work of the International Energy Agency's Coal Industry Advisory Board. With the assurances of a reliable United States steam coal supply at reasonable prices, many of the electric power plants to be built in the 1980's and 1990's can be coal-fired rather than oil-burning. ”

“ A clause in this Act required immediate application of the principle of socialisation to coal mines, and a Coal Bill has accordingly also been passed. By this the State takes over the industry and entrusts it to a Coal Board, reserving the right to regulate prices. Nothing is said as to the composition of this Board, but nothing is changed in the proprietary basis of the industry further than its organisation in regional syndicates.
There is also to be an Expert Council, representing employers, workmen, and officials equally. The retail coal trade remains untouched. ”

“ China will step up its efforts in prospecting coal resources, render support to large coal mining bases in conducting resource surveys and detailed geological surveys, set standards for commercial prospecting, improve the level of guarantee for coal resources, and steadily push forward the building of large coal mining bases. By merger and reorganization of enterprises, the country will bring into being some large coal mining conglomerates each with a total annual production capability of 100 million tons. ”

“ It would seem that every one in this Congress should be deeply interested in the conservation of coal whether his State produces it or not, for the permanence of this resource has a power relation, one that affects the industrial and social development of the whole country. ”

“ In the United States, Great Britain, and other countries free competition has been permitted. Free competition does not seem serious in countries like France, where the supply of coal is limited, but it has had more or less serious financial effects where the supply of coal has been very large. In Germany before the formation of the syndicates the coal mining industry had periods of overproduction and serious financial depression ”

“ The real directors and administrators of the coal industry are the Colliers Associations and the National Coal Association. The National Coal Council has hardly any effective power. [286] As for the Cabinet, the right of the Minister of Public Economy to oppose his veto to measures taken by the National Coal Association and in particular to lower by law the prices fixed by the latter, is considered by the Socialists entirely insufficient in view of the close co-operation of the coal mine owners and the dealers in league against him. ”

“ This inferiority was due not to inferior industry on the part of the workmen but to inferior initiative and independence in the management. What effect over-papered, under-paid officialdom can have on the productiveness of a [157] coalfield is shown in the following annual percentages of total production:
But with the revolution came an alternative to "nationalisation"—"socialisation"—in which all those connected with the coal industry should have an interest in it. ”

“ With regard to the mineral production of Europe generally, perhaps the most notable fact to record is the relatively lower place taken by the United Kingdom in the production both of coal and iron. Here it is enough to state the main results. In the production of coal the United Kingdom is indeed still far ahead of all other European countries, but notwithstanding the fact that the British export of coal has been increasing much more rapidly than the production, this country has not been able to keep pace with Germany and Russia in the rate of increase of production. ”

“ Even upon the evidence already given, the present system of ownership and working in the coal industry stands condemned, and some other system must be substituted for it, either nationalisation or a method of unification by national purchase or by joint control. It is in the interests of the country that the colliery worker shall have an effective voice in the direction of the mine. ”

“ As regards great industrial combinations, the most striking advance has been made in the German coal industry; the most prominent organization in this department being the Rheinisch-Westfälische Kohlensyndikat, which is distinguished by the characteristics of a genuine trust, exercising within its sphere of activity almost unlimited power. Like the American Standard Oil Company, it directly controls the sales, leaving the matter of production entirely to the separate companies. ”

“ I do not favor Government ownership or operation of coal mines. The need is for action under private ownership that will secure greater continuity of production and greater public protection. The Federal Government probably has no peacetime authority to regulate wages, prices, or profits in coal at the mines or among dealers, but by ascertaining and publishing facts it can exercise great influence. ”

“ Without it the United Kingdom would quickly sink to the position of a third-rate power. It might be assumed a priori, therefore, that the production and use of coal would be regarded by the British Government as a matter of national concern. As a matter of incredible fact, so little do we regard coal production that we even allow our rare supplies of naval coal to remain in private hands and to be sold freely to foreigners. ”

“ Even then, these calculations make no allowance for coal to be used in export trade to neutrals or other countries, some part of which seems vital to Germany's trade. They make no allowance for the deterioration of plant and machinery in the mines, which will delay resumption of coal production. ”