On 20 September 1988, at the beginning of the 39th academic year of the College of Europe in Bruges, the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, delivers a speech on the future of Europe and condemns the bureaucratic and centralist tendencies of the Community tendencies of the Community system.

In his book The worlds of François Mitterrand, Hubert Védrine, Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the French Republic at the time, describes the Maastricht European Council, which ended with an agreement for a new treaty.

On 7 December 2000, Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Regional Policy and Institutional Reform, holds a press conference, during which he outlines the implications of the final negotiations on the Treaty of Nice, with particular regard to the European security and defence policy (ESDP) and enhanced cooperation.

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the European Convention, places his Chinese porcelain tortoise on the Presidency table. For the President, this mascot with a dragon's head, a symbol of longevity, represents a prudent strategy which achieves its aim. Like the Convention, the dragon tortoise advances slowly so that, when the moment comes, it can catch the final text in its claws.