THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY AS THE FIRST AND DECISIVE STEP TOWARDS EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE CREATION OF THE COMMUNITY (1)

Europska zajednica za ugljen i čelik (EZUČ) predstavlja temelj na kojemu se počeo izgra- đivati europski projekt i današnja Europska unija (EU). U ovom radu izlažu se pravne osnove na kojima je počivala ova organizacija, koja je prestala postojati 2002. g. kada njezine nadležnosti preuzima Europska unija. U prvom dijelu rada objašnjava se povijesni kontekst nastanka Zajednice, a nakon toga se analizira pravni karakter Zajednice te njezine glavne pravne značajke.The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) represents the foundation of the European project and today\u27s European Union (EU). This paper analyses the legal foundations on which this organization rested, which ceased to exist in 2002 when the European Union took over its responsibilities. The first section of this paper explains the historical context of the creation of the Community. The remaining part of the paper analyzes the legal character of the Community and its main legal features