Hallstein Commission

The Hallstein Commission is the European Commission that held office from 7 January 1958 to 30 June 1967. Its President was Walter Hallstein and held two separate mandates.

It was the first Commission on the European Economic Community and held its first formal meeting on 16 January 1958 at the Château of Val-Duchesse. It was succeeded by the Rey Commission. It served two terms and had 9 members (two each from France, Italy and Germany, one each from Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands). It began work on the European single market and the Common Agricultural Policy. The Commission enjoyed a number of successes, such as the cereal prices accord which it managed to achieve in the wake of de Gaulle's veto of Britain's membership. De Gaulle was a major opponent to the Commission, and proposals such as the cereal prices accord were designed to bind France closer to the EEC to make it harder to break it up. Its work gained it esteem and prestige not only from the member states, but from outside the Community when the Commission made its debut at the Kennedy Round.

In 1965 president Hallstein put forward the Commission's proposals for financing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The proposals would have allowed the Community to develop its own financial resources, independently of the states, and given more budgetary powers to Parliament. Furthermore, though, it applied the majority voting into the Council, which the French government stated it could not agree to. Hallstein knew of the risky nature of the proposals and was unusually active in drafting them (they would normally have been drafted by the Agriculture Commissioner). The tone of internal deliberations at the time also show the institution was aware of what they would cause and some Commissioners (notably both the French Commissioners) were opposing the plans. However, they were also seen as vital for the Commission's long-term goals.

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