EU environmental policy started as a collection of disparate laws which had no specific Treaty basis. There was no department dedicated to environmental issues for the first 15 years of the European Commission's existence. It was only in 1973 that an environmental unit was created within DG Industry; a fully-fledged Environment Directorate-General (DG) was then set up in 1981. However, it remained a relatively weak DG in the Commissioner for several years due to its lack of institutional experience and human resources; Having started with 5 officials in 1973, there were still only about 60 officials in the 1980s.