The European Defence Community (EDC) was a plan proposed in 1950 by René Pleven, the French President of the Council (name of Prime Ministers until 1958), in response to the American call for the rearmament of West Germany. The intention was to form a pan-European defense force as an alternative to Germany's proposed accession to NATO, meant to harness its military potential in case of conflict with the Soviet bloc. The EDC was to include West Germany, France, Italy, and the Benelux countries. A treaty was signed on 27 May 1952, but the plan never went into effect.

The plan collapsed when it failed to obtain ratification in the French Parliament. There were Gaullist fears that the EDC threatened France's national sovereignty, constitutional concerns about the indivisibility of the French Republic, and fears about Germany's remilitarization. Communists opposed a plan tying France to the capitalist USA and setting it in opposition to the Communist bloc. Other legislators worried about the absence of the United Kingdom. The EDC went for ratification in the French National Assembly on 30 August 1954, and failed by a vote of 264-319 (Judt, 2005:245). By this time, concerns about a future conflict faded with the death of Stalin and the end of the Korean War. Concomitant to these fears were a severe disjuncture between the original Pleven Plan of 1950 and the one defeated in 1954. Divergences included military integration at the division rather than battalion level and a change in the command structure putting the NATO Supreme Commander in charge of EDC operational capabilities. Then Prime-Minister, Pierre Mendès-France attempted to placate the treaty's detractors by attempting to ratify additional protocols with the other signatory states. These included the sole integration of covering forces, or in other words, those deployed within Germany, as well as the implementation of greater national autonomy in regard to budgetary and other administrative questions. Great Britain approved of the plan in principle, but agreed to join only if the supranational element was decreased.