From 19 to 22 May 1955, during the 11th National Congress of the Popular Republican Movement (MRP) in Marseille, Joseph Dumas, MP for the Seine département, reviews the situation in the French Union. Emphasising the tragic consequences of the loss of Indo-China, he calls on France to respond to the expectations of Sub-Saharan Africa and analyses the situation in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. In June 1955, Joseph Dumas publishes his report in Forces nouvelles, the weekly publication of the MRP.

This brochure titled France and the issues surrounding the overseas territories describes the economic and political catastrophe that the relinquishment or secession of France’s overseas possessions would entail. In the foreword, Georges Rey, the former colonial administrator in Côte d’Ivoire, emphasises that the continued existence of a vast political and economic entity represents a real opportunity both for France and for the overseas territories.

On 17 May 1956, Gaston Defferre, Minister for Overseas France, sends a detailed letter to the President of the French Council, Guy Mollet, in which he describes the importance for France of associating the territories of the French Union with the planned European Common Market.

On 24 May 1956, Pierre Uri, Director of the General Economy Division of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), draws up a note in which he considers the economic and political aspects of a possible association of the French Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 23 August 1956, during the Val Duchesse negotiations on the establishment of a future Common Market, Pierre Alby, Deputy General Secretary of the Interministerial Committee for European Economic Cooperation in the French Prime Minister’s administration, sends a series of notes on French investments in Algeria during the period 1830–1955 and the investments planned for the next ten years.

On 23 August 1956, Pierre Alby, Deputy General Secretary of the Interministerial Committee for European Economic Cooperation in the French Prime Minister’s administration, sends a note on the main conditions that will need to be taken into consideration if Algeria is to join the European Common Market.These notes will help with preparations for the forthcoming negotiations in Val Duchesse on the relations between the overseas countries and the Common Market.

This note on Algerian trade is part of a series of documents sent on 23 August 1956 by Pierre Alby, Deputy General Secretary of the Interministerial Committee for European Economic Cooperation in the French Prime Minister’s administration. These notes will help with preparations for the Val Duchesse negotiations, particularly with regard to the association of the overseas countries and territories with the Common Market.

On 30 August 1956, the working group set up within the French interministerial committee to prepare the arrangements for the association of the overseas countries with the future European Common Market presents its conclusions. The issues raised include industrial development, the levels of customs duties and the free movement of workers.

On 5 October 1956, the Interministerial Committee on the Common Market, the ‘Verret Committee’, sets out the position of France on the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 27 October 1957, during the eighth Franco-Belgian Interparliamentary Congress in Liège, Luc Durand-Réville, Gabon Senator and President of the Equatorial African Section of the French Central Committee for Overseas Countries (FCCOC), submits a report on the possible integration of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) in the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 21 November 1956, the interministerial committee for the Common Market proposes an amendment to the note presented the previous day by the working group for overseas countries. This committee, directed by Alexandre Verret, is responsible for coordinating communication between the French negotiators and ministries. The committee proposes a complex stage-by-stage process for association between the franc area and the Six, with the creation of two customs unions that would eventually be merged.

In 1956, as negotiations are held on the European Common Market, the working group for overseas countries within the French interministerial committee for the Common Market draws up a table containing statistical data on imports from the overseas countries for the period from 1952 to 1955.

This table drawn up by the interministerial committee for the Common Market compares the customs tariff in French West Africa for a selection of products with the arithmetic average of the four customs tariffs of the countries participating in the Brussels Conference (the Federal Republic of Germany, Benelux, Italy and France).

[In 1956], the French General Directorate for Customs and Indirect Duties drafts a note analysing the likely impact if the European territory of France is integrated into the Common Market but the overseas countries in the franc zone are excluded.

On 28 December 1956, in an article in the French weekly publication L’Express, Georges Boris, former adviser to Pierre Mendès France, harshly criticises plans to include the overseas countries and territories (OCT) in the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 15 January 1957, in Paris, Robert Lemaignen, President of the Société Commerciale des Ports Africains (SOCOPAO) in French West Africa (FWA) and Chairman of the Committee on International Economic Relations of the National Council of French Employers (CNPF), presents a report which sets out the implications and attributes of the future European Economic Community (EEC) and how this will affect the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

On 15 January 1957, the Bulletin du Centre international d’informations, a French fortnightly publication, publishes a special issue which examines the association of the overseas countries with the European Common Market and outlines the political choices available to France on this matter. Building the Common Market with the inclusion of the overseas countries would reconcile the unity of the French community with the development of the overseas territories.

On 18 January 1957, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese MP and Member of the African Convention Group in the French National Assembly, expresses his concerns at the possible economic and political consequences of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 5 February 1957, the French Foreign Ministry's Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs draws up a note outlining the positions adopted by the national delegations with regard to the association of overseas territories with the European Common Market.

During the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and on Euratom, the French Delegation reviews the issue of the economic association of the overseas countries and territories with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

In October 1956, the French and Belgian authorities draw up a joint report in which they review the financial arrangement for the possible association of their overseas countries and territories with the European Economic Community (EEC). The report will be discussed on 15 November 1956 by the Committee of Heads of Delegation at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom.

On 16 November 1956, the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom addresses a letter to the Committee of Heads of Delegation in which it defines its priorities pertaining to the conditions for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 24 November 1956, having considered the Franco-Belgian proposal, the Committee of Heads of Delegation of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom summarises the implications and the terms of the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 28 November 1956, the Netherlands Delegation in the ad hoc Overseas Territories Committee established by the Common Market Committee of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom produces a questionnaire which draws up a list of the technical points raised by the Franco-Belgian proposals on the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

In December 1956, the Belgian Delegation to the Val Duchesse negotiations drafts a note outlining the position of the Belgian Congo and Rwanda-Urundi regarding the possibility of the overseas countries and territories participating in the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 6 December 1956, the German delegation in the Ad-Hoc Overseas Territories Group created by the Common Market Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom draws up a questionnaire in which it outlines the points to be clarified concerning the public investment regime in anticipation of the possible association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 8 December 1956, Heinrich von Brentano, Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, sends a letter to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in which he outlines the arguments of France and Belgium in favour of the need to associate the overseas countries and territories.

On 10 December 1956, the German Delegation in the ad hoc Overseas Territories Group established by the Common Market Committee of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom produces a questionnaire which draws up a list of issues to be studied in advance of any association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

On 10 December 1956, in Paris, the Italian Delegation in the ad hoc Overseas Territories Group established by the Common Market Committee of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom draws up a list of questions regarding the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 13 December 1956, the Ad-Hoc Overseas Territories Group in the Common Market Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom reviews the negotiations under way on the question of the possible association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 18 December 1956, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, drafts a preamble that sets out the objectives and arrangements for the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 6 January 1957, Pierre Uri, Director of the General Economy Division of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), drafts a memorandum in a personal capacity in which he proposes solutions to the problem of the overseas territories, particularly the question of the participation by Community countries in the investment burden.

On 20 January 1957, the Heads of Delegation of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom define the principles and procedures of the system for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 30 January 1957, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, assesses the progress made in the negotiations between the Six on the possible association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 1 February 1957, as the Val Duchesse negotiations are held, the French delegation presents a note on France’s financial contribution to social investments in the countries and territories in the franc zone outside Europe that are likely to participate in the Common Market.

On 18 February 1957, the Foreign Ministers of the six countries participating in the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom in Val Duchesse meet in Paris in order to finalise the arrangements for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 19 and 20 February 1957, the Heads of Government and the Foreign Ministers of the six countries participating in the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom meet at the Hôtel Matignon in Paris to take stock of the ongoing negotiations at the Château de Val Duchesse and conduct the final political arrangements with regard to property rights for Euratom special fissile material and the conditions for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 20 February 1957, the secretariat of the conference of heads of government of the Six drafts a summary of the decisions taken at the meeting of heads of government on the association of the overseas territories with the Common Market. The document provides details of the financial investments made by the Six in these territories and the trade arrangements that will be applied.

‘At all costs — the nut will be cracked!’ On 21 February 1957, commenting in the daily newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in response to the decision taken by the Heads of State or Government of the Six to associate the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC), the cartoonist, Conrad, takes an ironic look at the attitude of France, which is putting pressure on its European partners in order to promote trade in products from the French Union and to finance their development.

On 18 March 1957, the Netherlands Council of Ministers states its position on the regime for the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

‘Common market: "Go on, Michel, shut your eyes and think of Europe!"' In 1957, the German cartoonist Köhler portrays the fears of the Federal Republic of Germany regarding the European national contributions towards financing investments in the economic and social infrastructure in North Africa.

On 19 March 1957, one week before the signing of the Rome Treaties, an internal note from the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) explains the political reasons that led the German delegation to accept the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Economic Community (EEC).

In his Memoirs, Johannes Linthorst Homan, former head of the Netherlands delegation during the negotiations conducted by the Six in Val Duchesse, recalls the problems caused by the French demand that its Overseas Countries and Territories (PTOM) should be associated with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 6 January 1957, the Ghent daily newspaper La Flandre Libérale outlines the arguments put forward in France by opponents to the idea of Eurafrica and to the planned association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 16 January 1957, the French daily newspaper Combat outlines the implications and difficulties of the association of the French Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 20 February 1957, the Italian magazine Critica Sociale outlines the implications of the establishment of a Common Market in Europe and of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 22 February 1957, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and its European regional organisation make a joint statement on the implications of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 24 February 1957, basing its article on the case of the Belgian Congo, the liberal Charleroi daily newspaper La Nouvelle Gazette welcomes the arrangements for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 25 February 1957, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, delivers an address to the Mars et Mercure Industrial and Commercial Circle of Former Officers and Reserve Officers in which he outlines some of the economic and political implications of the Common Market, with particular regard to the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

On 1 March 1957, in the Brussels daily newspaper La Dernière Heure, Roger Motz, member of the Belgian Senate and President of the Belgian Liberal Party (PLB), describes the international implications and the advantages of the arrangements for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 8 March 1957, the Consulate-General of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in Nairobi discusses public reaction to and comments made by the Kenyan press on the establishment of a European Common Market.

On 16 March 1957, in the Charleroi daily newspaper La Nouvelle Gazette, Paul Rohr, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Belgian Liberal Party (PLB), identifies the economic and political implications of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 17 March 1957, in the Brussels weekly newspaper Le Phare Dimanche, Maurice Masoin, Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), describes the implications of the arrangements for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC), emphasising, in particular, the special situation of the Belgian Congo.

‘The oasis.’ On 28 March 1957, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité attacks the Eurafrica proposal which it sees as the pillaging of Saharan oil by Anglo-American oil companies and German trusts.

On 12 March 1957, Baron Jean-Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers, Secretary-General of the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs and President of the Belgian Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, delivers an address to an audience of Belgian civil servants in which he gives an assessment of the revival of European integration and of the Val Duchesse negotiations, with particular regard to the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

In March 1957, in La Revue Politique, the official publication of the Belgian Social Christian Party (PSC), Raymond Scheyven, Brussels-based Catholic MP, outlines the principles and operation of the scheme for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC), with particular regard to the situation in the Belgian Congo.

In April 1957, in an article for the magazine Belgique d’Outre-mer, the Belgian economist, Louis Ameye, outlines the principles and procedures of the system for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 14 March 1958, the Committee of the Association of Belgian Colonial Interests (AICB), composed of the directors of companies based in the Belgian Congo, presents its annual report to the general meeting. This report welcomes the association regime between the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) and the European Economic Community (EEC).

Map published by the Press and Information Service of the European Communities showing the six Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the associated Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) as on 1 July 1961.