In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the impact of the war in Algeria and of the Suez Crisis on the Val Duchesse negotiations and on France's commitment to European integration.

Signed on 20 and 21 July 1954 in the presence of the French Prime Minister, Pierre Mendès France, and the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, the Geneva Accords bring the Indo-China War to an end.

Aerial view of two of the vessels scuttled by the Egyptians in Port Said at the entrance to the Suez Canal in order to prevent any shipping movements. On the right, a British vessel specially equipped for refloating operations.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the reservations held by the upper echelons of the French administration regarding the proposed European common market and discusses the method used by the Paris Government to overcome these reservations and formulate a common position.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister, discusses the development of relations between France and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the late 1970s following the Ostpolitik strategy launched by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the Presidency of the French Republic and former French Foreign Minister, describes the nature of the personal relationship between the French President, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, and the German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, and the impact that this relationship had on European and international politics.

On 16 July 1975, French President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, meet in Brussels to discuss European monetary issues.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the Presidency of the French Republic and former French Foreign Minister, discusses the establishment of the European Monetary System (EMS) in 1979 on the joint initiative of the French President, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, and the German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt.

On 5 December 1978, following the Brussels European Council, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, French President, holds a press conference during which he announces the Nine's decision to establish, on 1 January 1979, the European Monetary System (EMS).

In this interview, Jacques F. Poos, former Luxembourg Finance Minister, recalls the objectives of and the stakes involved in the European Monetary System (EMS) and points to its influence on monetary discipline in Europe before and after the adoption of the euro.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister, discusses the debates caused in France, in particular within part of the Parliamentary right wing, by the election of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage in 1979.

French poster designed by Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon for the campaign preceding the first elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (10 June 1979).

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister and current Senator for Lot-et-Garonne, recalls the attitude of the French President, François Mitterrand, in November 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and the following year when Germany was reunified.

In 1996, François Mitterrand, President of France from 1981 to 1995, recalls the attitudes of the various European countries towards German reunification on the eve of the Strasbourg European Council of 8 and 9 December 1989.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister and current Vice-President of the French Senate Delegation for European Union, welcomes the outcome of the work of the Convention on the future of Europe which, from 2002 to 2003, was given the task of proposing a reform of the EU institutions.

On 13 June 2003, in Brussels, at the final working session of the European Convention on the Future of Europe, the President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, assesses the experience and results acquired from the Convention's work.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister and current Vice-President of the French Senate Delegation for the European Union, suggests some possible solutions which might enable the EU to move forward from the political crisis that it is facing following the negative result of the referendum held in Ireland on 12 June 2008 on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon.