On 6 June 1950, less than a month after the Schuman Declaration, the French Agriculture Minister, Gabriel Valay, inspired by the pooling of coal and steel resources, submits to Robert Schuman a proposal relating to a common agricultural market in Europe.

In his Memoirs, Pierre Pflimlin, former French Agriculture Minister, recalls the objectives which led him to propose to the National Assembly, on 12 June 1950, the Europe-wide organisation of the agricultural market. This plan was later to become known as the ‘green pool’.

On 15 June 1950, Pierre Pflimlin, French Minister of Agriculture, calls on the French Government as a body to take the initiative to propose to its Western European partners that the major agricultural markets be organised on a Europe-wide basis.

On 11 August 1950, Pierre Pflimlin, French Minister of Agriculture, informs Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board, that he wishes to inform his colleagues in the Council of Ministers on 22 August about his plan to establish a European agricultural market.

On 19 August 1950, Jean Monnet sends a telegram to Pierre Pflimlin, Agriculture Minister in the Pleven Government, warning him of the dangers of an ill-prepared initiative with regard to the plan to create a common market for agricultural markets in Europe.

In January 1951, in the journal Notre Europe, Pierre de Félice, Senator for the Loiret region and French delegate to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, calls for the establishment of a European agricultural pool.

On 28 May 1951, Jos Olinger, Agricultural Attaché to the Luxembourg Embassy in Brussels, provides the Grand Duchy’s Foreign Ministry with an account of the ideas put forward by Belgian experts during a joint working conference on the French plan for a ‘green pool’.

On 6 November 1950, Sicco Mansholt, Dutch Agriculture Minister, sends a note to his Luxembourg counterpart, François Simon, outlining the objectives of the implementation of a Europe-wide organisation of agricultural markets.

On 25 March 1952, the French Government submits to its European partners, meeting in Paris, a memorandum in favour of a European agricultural community.

On 25 March 1952, the French Government submits to its European partners, meeting in Paris for a European agricultural conference, a note emphasising its determination to support agricultural integration in Europe.

On 25 March 1952, Pierre Pflimlin, French Minister for overseas territories, reveals to delegates of the Member States of the Council of Europe, meeting at Quai d'Orsay for an agriculture conference, the importance which his Government places on agricultural integration in Europe.

On 25 March 1952, Sicco Mansholt, Netherlands Agriculture Minister, reveals to delegates of the Member States of the Council of Europe, meeting in Paris for a European agriculture conference, the importance which his Government places on European agricultural integration.

In June 1952, three months after a preparatory meeting of several Council of Europe Member States, Theodor Sonnemann, West German Secretary of State for Agriculture, gives an overview of the problems related to the setting up of a European agricultural union.

On 20 March 1953, the countries participating in the European Conference on the Organisation of Agricultural Markets adopt a resolution emphasising the importance of establishing the necessary structures for the organisation and unification of the agricultural markets in Europe.

On 30 April 1953, shortly after the European Conference on the Organisation of Agricultural Markets, the Interim Committee establishes its working programme regarding the methods for the organisation and unification of the agricultural markets.

On 2 January 1951, the French delegate, René Charpentier, presents a confidential, provisional report on the European Agricultural Authority to the Registrar of the Special Committee on Agriculture of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe.

On 5 May 1951, the French delegate, René Charpentier, presents to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe his report on the establishment of a supranational agricultural authority in Europe. The Assembly decides to hold over consideration of this report to its autumn session.

On 1 December 1951, the Members of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe examine the reports presented on 5 May 1951 by René Charpentier and by David Eccles on the organisation of Europe's agricultural markets. The plan put forward by Eccles, the British delegate, is considered too intergovernmental and is, therefore, rejected by a majority of the Assembly.

On 19 March 1954, the Secretariat of the Council of Europe forwards to the Committee of Ministers a detailed memorandum on the efforts made since the end of the Second World War to unify European agricultural markets.

On 27 September 1951, the Confederation of European Agriculture adopts a resolution on the issues involved in organising the European agricultural markets and the means by which this might be achieved.

Meeting in Paris on 10 March 1952, professionals involved in trade in agricultural products and trade unions from the European agricultural sector adopt a joint resolution on the issues surrounding the establishment of a European agricultural market.

Le 27 mars 1957, commentant la signature deux jours plus tôt à Rome des traités instituant la Communauté économique européenne (CEE) et la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (CEEA ou Euratom), le quotidien italien Il nuovo Corriere della Sera décrit la difficile adaptation de l'agriculture italienne aux futures contraintes du Marché commun européen.

On 20 September 1958, following its Congress held in Vienna, the European Confederation of Agriculture (ECA) publishes a manifesto in which it sets out the principles for a modern, competitive and prosperous agriculture industry in Europe.

On 18 August 1961, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera analyses procedures for the harmonisation of the agricultural systems of the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC).

In 1968, the Commission of the European Communities publishes a report on the national agricultural policies of the six Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC).

At the Agriculture Conference held in Stresa from 3 to 12 July 1958 and attended by the representatives of the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC), Mario Ferrari-Aggradi, Italian Agriculture Minister, describes the situation of Italian agriculture in the light of the challenge of a common agricultural policy.

Final Resolution adopted by the Delegations of the six Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC), meeting at the Stresa Agriculture Conference from 3 to 12 July 1958.

From 3 to 12 July 1958, the delegations of the Six met in Stresa (Italy) to discuss the introduction of a common agricultural policy (CAP) with Walter Hallstein, President of the European Commission, and Sicco Mansholt, Commissioner for Agriculture.

In its proposals to the Council of Ministers, the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) includes a Regulation establishing a system of levies and the gradual creation of a common organisation of the market in the cereals sector.

In its proposals to the Council of Ministers, the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) includes a Regulation on the gradual establishment of a common organisation of the market in the pigmeat sector.

In its proposals to the Council of Ministers, the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) includes a Regulation on the gradual establishment of a common organisation of the market in the fruit and vegetables sector.

In its proposals to the Council of Ministers, the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) includes a Regulation on the gradual establishment of a common organisation of the market in the egg sector.

In its proposals to the Council of Ministers, the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) includes a Regulation on the gradual establishment of a common organisation of the market in the poultrymeat sector.

In its report on the implementation of the Treaty of Rome, the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) reviews the achievements relating to the common organisation of the agricultural markets up to January 1962.

In his memoirs, Sicco Mansholt, former Member of the Commission of the European Communities, describes the first faltering steps of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

Sicco Mansholt, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture from 1958 to 1973: the architect of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

Walter Hallstein, President of the EEC Commission from 1958 to 1967.

On 26 January 1962, Albert Borschette, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the European Communities, writes a letter to Eugene Schaus, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, commenting on the decisions of the Council of Ministers regarding the common agricultural policy (CAP).

"Attentat contre l'Europe ?" En février 1962, commentant les négociations en cours sur la politique agricole commune (PAC) entre les représentants des six États membres de la Communauté économique européenne (CEE), le caricaturiste Pi fustige dans le quotidien allemand Industriekurier la position jugée anti-européenne du général de Gaulle, président de la République française.

On 14 January 1962, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera gives an account of the difficulties faced by the Six in reaching an agreement on the establishment of a European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) designed to guarantee the financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

In Regulation (EEC) No 25 of 4 April 1962 on the financing of the common agricultural policy, the Council establishes a European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund and lays down some rules relating to financial policy. Furthermore, it decides that the levies on agricultural imports from third countries constitute own resources for the Community.

‘Europeans, protect your greenery!’ On 15 June 1963, the German cartoonist, Brockmann, takes an ironic look at the establishment of a common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 21 December 1968, the European Commission submits to the Council a memorandum on agricultural reform. This is the Agriculture 1980 plan, also known as the Mansholt Plan, named after the European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture.

On 15 February 1971, Sicco Mansholt (left), Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture, Michel Cointat (centre), French Agriculture Minister, and Franco Maria Malfatti (right), President of the European Commission, talk in the margins of the Council of Agriculture Ministers of the Six in Brussels.

Despite the unpopularity of some measures included in the Mansholt Plan, the Council of Ministers rally, and on 17 April 1972, adopt a directive on farm modernisation.

Despite the unpopularity of certain measures in the Mansholt Plan, the Council of Ministers actively supports and then adopts, on 17 April 1972, a directive concerning measures to encourage the cessation of farming and the re-allocation of agricultural land for structural improvement.

Despite the unpopularity of certain measures in the Mansholt Plan, the Council of Ministers actively supports and then adopts, on 17 April 1972, a directive concerning the acquisition of occupational skills by persons engaged in agriculture.

In 1974, in a published collection of interviews, Sicco Mansholt, former European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture, describes the issues and the difficulties associated with his plan for a reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

‘Working at full stretch. And now, once again, it’s our French colleague’s turn to play us his record.’ On 4 October 1975, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung deplores the attitude of the European Agriculture Ministers, who, despite their declarations of intent, are dragging their feet when it comes to implementing a reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

‘Dum, dum, dumped — No way through the garbage.’ In March 1971, the discontent in the European farming sector over plans to reform the common agricultural policy (CAP) proposed by Sicco Mansholt, European Commissioner with special responsibility for agriculture, comes to a head.

In 1974, at a conference held in Austria on the economic and political situation in Europe, Otto von Habsburg, President of the International Paneuropean Union, strongly criticises the Mansholt Plan and its consequences, which he considers to be harmful for European agriculture.

In 1969, the German Ministry for Agriculture analyses the implications of the Mansholt Plan and sets out its ideas regarding the establishment of a future common agricultural policy.

On 15 February 1969, the Italian daily newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore comments on the impact on agricultural prices of the proposed reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

In November 1969, the Dutch European Movement’s monthly publication Nieuw Europa comments on the position taken by the Netherlands Minister for Agriculture, Petrus Josephus Lardinois, on the subject of the Mansholt Plan.

On 23 March 1971, European farmers take to the streets in Brussels and demonstrate violently against the Mansholt Plan to reform the common agricultural policy (CAP).

Map showing the location in Benelux of all projects which received financial aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Guidance Section) in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Map showing the location in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) of all projects which received financial aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Guidance Section) in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Map showing the location in France of all projects which received financial aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Guidance Section) in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Map showing the location in northern Italy of all projects which received financial aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Guidance Section) in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Map showing the location in southern Italy of all projects which received financial aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Guidance Section) in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

In January 1981, the monthly publication 30 jours d’Europe considers the policy of export subsidies for Community agricultural surpluses.

On 10 July 1984, Ignaz Kiechle, the German Agriculture Minister, gives an address on agricultural surpluses in the European Community.

On 17 January 1985, the European Parliament adopts a resolution in which it promotes the common agricultural policy (CAP) and suggests various measures to counter the criticism levelled at the European Community regarding the destruction of fruit and vegetables.

In January 1991, the European Commission presents its programme for the current year to the European Parliament and focuses particularly on the question of the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 15 January 1991, in connection with the Uruguay Round negotiations, Leon Brittan, European Commissioner for Competition, considers the difficult negotiations between the United States and the European Community on the issue of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 24 January 1991, Martin Bangemann, European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industrial Affairs, sets out the essential aim of the reform of the common agricultural policy and raises the question of the handling of the agricultural debate during the Uruguay Round negotiations.

In 1991, the European Commission submits to the Council and to the Parliament a discussion paper, a follow-up to the documents COM(91) 100 and COM(91)258, on the development and the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 11 December 1991, the European Parliament adopts a resolution examining the European Commission’s proposals on the evolution and future of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

From 18 to 21 May 1992, after final negotiations in Brussels, the Council of European Agricultural Ministers reaches a political agreement on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 22 May 1992, at the end of the 59th Franco–German Summit held in La Rochelle, François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic, answers questions from journalists on French farmers’ anger at the reform of the common agricultural policy and on the consequences that the recent decisions relating to agriculture might have on the GATT negotiations.

On 11 June 1992, during an address given at the session of the Permanent Assembly of the Chambers of Agriculture, French Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy refers to the new reform of the common agricultural policy and outlines its advantages for French agriculture.

On 12 June 1992, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Ray MacSharry, outlines to the European Parliament the main thrust of the new reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and describes the difficult discussions over the issue of agriculture during the multilateral GATT negotiations.

On 8 July 1992, the European Parliament adopts a resolution on the methods for implementing the new reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 8 July 1992, the European Parliament adopts a resolution on the consequences of the reform of the common agricultural policy and particularly focuses on the differences of opinion between the United States and the European Community during the GATT negotiations.

In August 1992, the French bimonthly publication Paysans takes a detailed look at the future provisions of the new reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).

In this interview conducted on 14 March 2005, Louis Mermaz, French Minister for Agriculture and Forestry from 1990 to 1992, recalls the difficult negotiations among the Europe of Twelve and within the framework of the GATT on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).