Tariffs, trade, and European integration, 1947-57 : from study group to Common Market / by Wendy Asbeek Brusse.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.--European University Institute, Florencem 1991).

Includes bibliographical references (pages [289]-309) and index.

Ch. 1. The Patterns and Politics of Protection in Historical Perspective -- Ch. 2. The Foundations of the Postwar Trading System and the First Regional Plans for European Trade Cooperation -- Ch. 3. The OEEC's Tariff Debate -- Ch. 4. European Tariff Plans in GATT -- Ch. 5. Tariffs and the Six: The Beyen Plan and the Common Market -- Ch. 6. European Tariff Plans and National Tariff Policies: The Cases of Germany, Britain and the Netherlands -- Appendix. Comparing European Tariff Levels by Main SITC Section, 1951.

Wendy Asbeek Brusse provides us with the first comprehensive, multicountry reconstruction of the commercial-policy origins of European integration. Based on archival sources of six countries, Tariffs, Trade and European Integration, 1947-1957 shows that the creation of the Common Market can only be fully understood if one takes into account its economic underpinning.

Immediately after the war, European countries were continuously searching for economic stability, welfare and commercial disarmament, but existing international markets could not satisfy their aspirations. Only by reaching for novel solutions did they bring the trade wars of the 1930s finally to an end and lay the foundation for European Union.