ABSTRACT
It seems then that the introduction of third countries into the picture complicates the argument but does not change our basic conclusion. This was that the international redistribution of coal production within the ec sc may have either good or bad effects, depending on whether or not the employment and balance-of-payments problems it creates are rectified in an atmosphere conducive to the easing of restraints on trade among the member countries in commodities other than coal and steel. It so happens that the establishment of the Community and its first few years of operation coincided with a simultaneous liberalization of intra-European trade; and if this trend con tinues, the reallocation of coal and steel output is likely to be beneficial to the Community even on the restrictive assumption of this section. Let it be noted, however, that the liberalization of trade in fields other than coal and steel is almost certainly a necessary condition not only for rendering the reallocation of output beneficial but even for preventing its being harmful.
