The establishment of an Economic Commission for Europe
was recommended by the "Temporary Sub-Commission on the Economic
Reconstruction of Devastated Areas", which convened in London on
29 July 1946 and reported to the Economic and Social Council on 13 September
1946.
On 11 December 1946, the General Assembly of the United
Nations, at its fifty-fifth plenary meeting, unanimously recommended "in
order to give effective aid to the countries devastated by the war, the
Economic and Social Council, at its next session, give prompt and favourable
consideration to the establishment of an Economic Commission for Europe".
The Council, at its fourth session, complied with the General
Assembly's wishes by adopting, on 28 March 1947, resolution 36 (IV) setting
up ECE and giving it its terms of reference. The Economic Commission
for Europe was thus, together with the Economic Commission for Asia and
the Far East (ECAFE), which was established on the same date, one of
the first two regional economic commissions to be established by the
Council. Subsequently the Council established the Economic Commission
for Latin America (ECLA) in March 1948, the Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA) in April 1958 and the Economic Commission for Western Asia (ECWA)
in August 1973.
During the first four years after its founding, ECE functioned
on a provisional basis: the Council expressly provided for a special
review of the Commission's work, to be undertaken not later than 1951, "with
a view to determining whether the Commission should be terminated or
continued, and if continued, what modifications, if any, should be made
in its terms of reference".
According to article 1(a) of its terms of reference, the
Commission's prime objective is to "initiate and participate in
measures for facilitating concerted action for the economic reconstruction
of Europe, for raising the level of European economic activity, and for
maintaining and strengthening the economic relations of the European
countries, both among themselves and with other countries of the world".
To this major aim was added that of making or sponsoring
investigations and studies of economic and technological problems and
developments as well as the collection, evaluation and dissemination
of economic, technological and statistical information (article 1(b)
and (c)). In view of the special concern of the General Assembly and
the Council for the problem of repairing war damage, and in the light
of the winding up of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency
(UNRRA) in the spring of 1947, ECE was also called upon to "give
prior consideration, during its initial stages, to measures facilitating
the economic reconstruction of devastated countries of Europe which are
Members of the United Nations" (article 2).
The Commission is empowered to make recommendations on
any matter within its competence directly to the participating Governments
of the region, subject to two qualifications: (a) the activity of the
Commission, which functions within the framework of the policies of the
United Nations and under the general supervision of the Council, is subject
to the provision that the Commission "takes no action in respect
to any country without the agreement of the government of that country" (article
1); and (b) the Commission is required to "submit for the Council's
prior consideration any of its proposals for activities that would have
important effects on the economy of the world as a whole" (article
4).
Acting upon the instruction contained in article 19 of
the ECE terms of reference, the Secretary-General of the United Nations
convened the first session of the Commission in Geneva in May 1947 at
the seat of the European Office of the United Nations which, under article
18 of the ECE terms of reference, is also the location of the Commission's
headquarters. Subsequent sessions of the Commission have taken place
in the Palais des Nations in Geneva, except for the twenty-ninth session,
which was held in Bucharest in 1974, at the invitation of the Government
of Romania.
At its sixth session (May/June 1951) the Commission unanimously
adopted resolution 1 (VI) on its future, in which it considered that
constructive economic co-operation was essential to the maintenance of
peace, reaffirmed its faith in the possibility of such co-operation within
the framework of the Commission, and recommended that it should continue
its work in this direction.
Earlier (December 1950), the General Assembly, in resolution
409 A (V) taking note "with satisfaction of the Economic and Social
Council's decision to undertake in the near future a complete review
... of its commissions", had expressed the opinion "that the
regional economic commissions should be maintained". This review
was carried out by the Council's ad hoc Committee on the Organization
and Operation of the Council and its Commissions in April and May 1951.
As a result of that Committee's recommendations the Council,
in its resolution 414 C (XIII), expressed unanimous appreciation of the
work of the regional commissions and decided to continue them indefinitely.
By virtue of this decision the ECE became a permanent body of the United
Nations.
When it was established in 1947, ECE was given
the mandate of helping to rebuild post-war Europe, develop economic
activity and strengthen economic relations
between European countries and between them and the other countries
of the world. However, the Iron Curtain which separated East
and West shortly after ECE's establishment forced it to deal
only with questions that were of common interest to East and
West, despite their different economic systems and their political
and ideological confrontation.
For more than 40 years, ECE
was the only instrument of economic dialogue and cooperation
between these two radically different systems, and it may legitimately
be proud of the results achieved in such a difficult context
including the network of ``E'' roads linking all European countries,
the harmonization of road signs and signals, safety and anti-pollution
standards for motor vehicles, standards for the transport of
dangerous goods by road, the agreement for the development of
combined transport, standards for perishable agricultural produce,
agreements on customs procedures and various trade regulations,
standards for the electronic exchange of trade and transport
data and conventions on transboundary air pollution, the protection
of watercourses and the transboundary effects of industrial
accidents. At the same time, its analyses and statistics on
regional economic development are considered authoritative.
With the end of the Cold War, the transition from a centrally planned economy system to market economy and
the integration of the so-called countries in transition into
the global economy became the major concern. ECE was able to
adapt by focusing its analytical capacities on the transition
process and by using its experience of harmonization to facilitate
the integration of the central and east European countries.
In order to meet the needs of the economies in transition and,
in particular, those of the Newly Independent Countries resulting
from the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Yugoslav Federation,
as well as from the separation of the Czech and Slovak Republics,
the number of ECE members increased from 34 to 55 within four
years. ECE developed an entirely new form of assistance activity,
consisting of seminars and workshops on aspects of the operation
of the market economy and of advice provided by a team of specialists
set up to help countries implement ECE recommendations, standards
and conventions.
At the end of the Cold War ECE, along with others, extended
its activities to central and east European countries and to
the central Asian republics which desired to be members of
both ECE and ESACAP. Since then, ECE has continued to adapt
to the changing geopolitical landscape in Europe and has undergone
two major reforms, one in 1997 and one in 2005 to better tailor its activities
to the current needs of its now 56 member States – good proof that it is possible
to effect meaningful reforms within the United Nations.