The European Recovery Program (ERP), colloquially referred to as the Marshall Plan, was an American programme of economic assistance for the European countries, implemented in the years 1948-1951. The authors of the programme assumed that the recovery of European economies is in the long-term interest of the United States. A dynamic development required trading and foreign investments, which depended on the condition of partners and their integration into the global economy. On the other hand, the Marshall Plan was an important instrument in the cold war and in implementation of the US policy. Announced by the Secretary of State George C. Marshall during his speech held at Harvard University in June 1947, the programme took a year to be shaped up. Finally, on April 3, 1948 the Congress adopted the Foreign Assistance Act, which included the fundamental principles of the programme. Interest in the participation in the programme was expressed by the majority of the Western European countries. These countries received aid in the form of goods that were indispensable to the recovery of their economies. Funds raised through the sales of those goods were appropriated for necessary investments. The programme was managed by the Economic Cooperation Administration, which owned enterprises based in the participant countries. Other aid programmes, e.g. the Technical Assistance Program, the Mutual Defence Assistance Program, which were finally incorporated into a single Mutual Security Program, were directly related to the Marshall Plan. Within the framework of the ERP, the USA provided support to the European partners in the amount of ca. 14 bn USD during the period from April 1948 to December 1952, which is equivalent to ca. 140 bn USD as of 1999.