The true aims of the 1950 initiative. The symposium organised at the European Economic and Social Committee to commemorate the expiry of the ECSC Treaty has the great merit of distancing itself from the description of the first European Community as simply "technical and economic cooperation" (the sadly famous definition of the "Laeken Declaration") to recognise its deep political and ethical significance. The ECSC aimed at reconciliation and peace - Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman, together...