At a time when the European Economic Community was created (1958), France and Belgium still had enormous colonial possessions in Africa, so the EEC in some way included these areas as well.
On this day in 1958, the European Economic Community was created. In fact, that day, the Treaty of Rome entered into force, according to which two organizations were established: the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
The first members of these organizations were: the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. With the Treaty of Rome they entered into a customs union. On behalf Germany, the contract was signed by the famous Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (in a 2003 poll he was voted the greatest German of all time).
The first President of the European Commission, starting 1 January 1958, was the German Walter Hallstein. The first President of the European Parliament was the famous Robert Schuman. It is interesting that France and Belgium still had enormous colonial possessions in Africa, so the EEC in some way included these areas as well.