On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the European Economic Community and the 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM) sign the first convention, valid for a period of five years, confirming the association between Europe and Africa on the basis of free trade and financial aid from the Six.

On 20 July 1963, Walter Hallstein, President of the European Commission, welcomes the signing, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, of the first Convention of Association between the Community, its six Member States and 18 states known collectively as the Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

Im Namen der Kommission der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft unterzeichnet deren Präsident Walter Hallstein am 20. Juli 1963 das Abkommen von Jaunde zwischen den der EWG und achtzehn assoziierten afrikanischen Staaten und Madagaskar (AASM).

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Jean-Marie Koné, Minister of State with responsibility for Planning of the Republic of Mali (left), and Mohammed Sidi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (right), sign the first Association Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

Am 20. Juli 1963 unterzeichnen die Sechs und die achtzehn assoziierten afrikanischen Staaten und Madagaskar (AASM) in Jaunde (Kamerun) ein auf fünf Jahre angelegtes Assoziationsabkommen Europa-Afrika auf Grundlage freier Handelsbeziehungen und finanzieller Hilfe der Sechs.

On 21 July 1963, the day after the signing in Yaoundé, Cameroon, of the first Association Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 18 states known collectively as the Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM), the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the main provisions of the agreement.

The European Development Fund (EDF), established by the Treaty of Rome of 25 March 1957, enables the funding of economic and social infrastructures. The photo shows the example of the maternity unit in Ngozi, Burundi.

In this report drawn up on 10 December 1964 on behalf of the Joint Committee, rapporteur Alioune Sissoko draws conclusions from the first meeting of the Parliamentary Conference of the Association, held from 8 to 10 December 1964 in Dakar, in accordance with Article 50 of the Yaoundé Convention between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS).

On 25 February 1965, the Directorate-General for Steel of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) publishes a note on the High Authority’s attitude to the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS), in which it particularly analyses the issues related to the steel industry.

Short summary of the debates at the Parliamentary Conference of the Association between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS), held from 10 to 14 December 1966 in Abidjan.

At the Parliamentary Conference of the Association between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS), held from 10 to 14 December 1966 in Abidjan, rapporteur Alioune Sissoko presents a motion for a resolution, on behalf of the Joint Committee, on the second Annual Report of the Association Council.

On 17 October 1967, the Council of the European Communities publishes a communication from the Commission dated 16 October on the average level of tariff preferences granted to the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS) for products imported from Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC).

In the March 1968 edition of the monthly journal Eurafrica: Tribune du Tiers-Monde, published by the Eurafrican Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the former Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs and Employment Léon-Éli Troclet discusses the development of trade between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS) since the signing of the Yaoundé Convention in July 1963.

On 3 April 1968, the Commission of the European Communities sends a communication to the Council on the issues raised by the renewal of the Yaoundé Convention. It particularly focuses on economic and trade issues, financial and technical cooperation, the right of establishment and the right to provide services.

In the May 1968 edition of the monthly journal Eurafrica: Tribune du Tiers-Monde, published by the Eurafrican Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Belgian journalist and writer Raoul Crabbé speculates on the basis on which the Yaoundé Convention between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS) will be renewed.

In this report dated 30 September 1968 drawn up on behalf of the European Parliament’s committee for relations with the Associated African and Malagasy States (AAMS), the rapporteur, Gaston Thorn, examines the issues raised by the renewal of the Yaoundé Convention. He particularly discusses the institutional structure provided by the convention and analyses the development of trade between the AAMS and the European Economic Community (EEC). The report also focuses on financial and technical cooperation, especially the intervention of the European Development Fund (EDF) and the role of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the AAMS.

In this draft study dated 24 February 1969 produced on behalf of the specialist section for overseas development in the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) of the European Communities, the rapporteur, Mr Bodart, outlines the problems raised by the renewal of the Yaoundé Convention. He particularly refers to the development of imports in the European Economic Community (EEC) of the main products from the Associated African and Malagasy States, examines the implementation of the provisions in the convention and proposes various amendments ahead of its renewal.

In April 1969, Mario Pedini, Italian Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, reviews the Yaoundé Conventions, providing details of the use of Community subsidies for the period 1966–68, and speculates on the issues surrounding the new convention due to be concluded.