On 26 March 1957, commenting in the Dutch Catholic daily newspaper De Volkskrant on the signing, the previous day in Rome, of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC), Willem Drees, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, emphasises the possibilities offered by the Treaties while regretting that not all of the demands of the Netherlands Delegation were met.

‘The European family … Bon appétit!’ On 11 January 1958, referring to the entry into force of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), the Dutch cartoonist, Opland, illustrates the advantages that the Member States of the Communities hope to enjoy: Belgium is eating coal and steel, France is eating Euratom, Germany is benefiting from the Common Market and Italy is devouring the investments of the European Investment Bank (EIB), while the Netherlands is represented as a bookmark inserted into a volume of European law and the thin cat, Sicco Mansholt, Netherlands Member and Vice-President of the Commission of the EEC, must make do with the leftovers.