50 Years of the Treaties of Rome

At the centre, the treaty document signed by the six founding members, set against the backdrop of the star-shaped paving of the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome — designed by Michelangelo — where the Treaty was signed on 25 March 1957. The word “Europa” in the respective language appears directly above the document. Above: the commemorative occasion; below: the issuing country in the relevant language(s) and the year 2007.

First European Union joint issue. All 13 eurozone states issued a coin with the same design on the anniversary date of 25 March 2007. The coins differ only in their inscriptions, which appear in the respective national language.

For France, the Treaties of Rome of 25 March 1957 rank among the central milestones of post-war history. As one of the six founding members, France signed in Rome, together with the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community as well as the Euratom Treaty. The negotiations were shaped by the conviction that economic interdependence could secure lasting peace — a view championed in France above all by Foreign Minister Christian Pineau and Economy Minister Maurice Faure. The treaty text aimed at a common market, the reduction of tariffs, and the coordination of economic policy — decisions whose impact extended far beyond the original six-state union.

The signing took place in the Palazzo dei Senatori on Rome's Capitoline Hill, a location chosen for its deliberate historical symbolism. The Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo, lent the occasion a gravity befitting the historic ambition of the treaties. In the decades that followed, the EEC formed the institutional foundation on which the European Communities and later the European Union were built. France has consistently helped shape this integration — from the Common Agricultural Policy to the introduction of the euro. To mark the 50th anniversary of the signing in 2007, all euro states jointly issued a 2-euro commemorative coin, marking the first Europe-wide joint issue with a unified design.