On 19 September 1992, Fritz Behrendt, a Dutch cartoonist originally from Berlin, takes an ironic look at France’s fears and hesitations with regard to the future ‘Maastricht’ European treaty, symbolised here by a young bride with a ‘Vive l’Europe’ scarf. The bride is cautiously waiting for a reply from her suitor, who, wearing a beret and holding a shopping basket filled with baguettes and wine bearing the words ‘Vive la France’, seems unsure of what reply he should give: ‘Should we accept this union, yes or no?’ The French referendum held on 20 September 1992 finally resulted in a narrow victory for the ‘yes’ campaign, which received 51.04 % of the votes cast.