Financial report of the ECSC in liquidation at 31 December 2003.

Abstract

The European Coal and Steel Community was established under the Treaty signed in Paris on 18 April 1951. The Treaty entered intoforce in 1952 for a period of fifty years and expired on 23 July 2002.On expiry of the Treaty, ownership of ECSC funds reverted to the Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom). The final objective laid down by the Member States was the transfer of ECSC funds to the European Community (EC) and the creation of a joint research fund in sectors associated with the coal and steel industries. The Nice European Council decided to annex to the Treaty of Nice a Protocol on the financial consequences of the expiry of the ECSCTreaty and on the creation and management of the Coal and Steel Research Fund. This Protocol confers the ownership of ECSC funds on the European Community with effect from 24 July 2002.Pending the entry into force of the Treaty of Nice on 1 February2003, the Member States temporarily gave the EuropeanCommission a mandate to manage the assets concerned