The European Community (EC) is the first of the three pillars of the European Union (EU) created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992). It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, the EU's pillar structure will be abolished.

This means that the European Community, and the other two pillars, will be merged and cease to exist as separate entities. The Maastricht Treaty built upon the Single European Act and the Solemn Declaration on European Union in the creation of the European Union. The treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 and came into force on 1 November 1993.

It superseded the European Communities, absorbing it as one of its three pillars. The first Commission President following the creation of the EU was Jacques Delors, who briefly continued his previous EEC tenure before handing over to Jacques Santer in 1994. The Treaty of Amsterdam transferred responsibility for free movement of persons (e.g. visas, illegal immigration, asylum) from the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) pillar to the European Community (JHA was renamed Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) as a result).

Both Amsterdam and the Treaty of Nice also extended codecision procedure to nearly all policy areas, giving Parliament equal power to the Council in the Community. In 2002, the Treaty of Paris which established the European Coal and Steel Community (one of the three communities which comprised the European Communities) expired, having reached its 50 year limit (as the first treaty, it was the only one with a limit). It was seen as redundant so no attempt was made to replace it; instead, the Treaty of Nice transferred its elements to the Treaty of Rome and hence its work continued as part of the EEC area of the Community's remit.

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