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15 J. Common Mkt. Stud. 1 (1976)

handle is hein.journals/jcmks15 and id is 1 raw text is: A COMMUNITY WITHOUT A CAPITAL By ROLAND BIEBER AND MICHAEL PALMER* THE European Coal and Steel Community has existed for 24 years and the EEC and Euratom have been in operation for 18 years. Article 77 of the ECSC Treaty states 'the seat of the institutions of the Community will be determined by common accord of the governments of the Member States' and Article 216 of the EEC Treaty and Article 189 of the Euratom Treaty have similar pro- visions. But although the executive bodies of the three Communities were fused in 1967 by the Merger Treaty of 1965, Community Europe still does not have a single capital. In practice the Council of Ministers has its headquarters in Brussels, where its secretariat is established and where most meet- ings of the Council are held, though, as a result of the decision taken by the governments of the Member States in April 1965 (on 'the provisional location of certain institutions and departments of the Communities') the Council meets in Luxembourg d uring April, June and Octobcr. Brussels is also the headquarters of the Com- mission but its statistical and some other services are located in Luxembourg. The Court of Justice is also based in Luxembourg. The real problem is that of the European Parliament which holds some of its part-sessions in Strasbourg and some in Luxem- bourg and which holds most of its committee meetings in Brussels, whilst its secretariat has its headquarters in Luxembourg. Of the two other major Community bodies-neither of them institutions-- the Economic and Social Committee has its headquarters in Brussels and the European Investment Bank is established in Luxembourg. Charlemagne's government operated on the move; so why, it might be argued, should not the European Communities (which are, after all, composed of nine different countries), be administered from three different cities? The reasons why a single capital or seat is desirable are simple. First, the democratic control of the European Parliament over the Commission-the initiating and *Dr. Bieber and Mr. Palmer are Community officials. The views expressed in this article are purely personal and do not in any way commit the institution for which they work.

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