In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes the context in which the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) was opened in Turin at the end of March 1996. He goes on to emphasise some differences between this IGC, which led to the conclusion of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997, and the previous IGC that had resulted in the Treaty of Maastricht.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes the organisation of the Belgian delegation during the 1996–1997 Intergovernmental Conference that led to the Treaty of Amsterdam, and summarises the priorities set out in the Benelux memorandum that was drafted on this occasion.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes the negotiations that led to the creation of the post of European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), one of the major innovations of the Treaty of Amsterdam that was signed in 1997. Philippe de Schoutheete also emphasises the role played by Javier Solana in developing this post.

In diesem Interview analysiert Georges Berthoin, von 1956 bis 1973 Vertreter der Europäischen Gemeinschaft für Kohle und Stahl (EGKS) und später der Europäischen Gemeinschaften in London, die Vorstellungen der Briten vom Europäischen Aufbauwerks in den fünfziger und sechziger Jahren.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, discusses the innovations of the Treaty of Amsterdam in the area of defence, particularly with regard to relations between Western European Union (WEU) and the European Union. He welcomes the compromise that made it possible to frame the ‘Petersberg tasks’.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, explains the enhanced cooperation mechanism, a key innovation in the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam, and also looks back at the origins of this concept, which was already included in the Tindemans Report and the Spinelli Draft.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, gives his assessment of the developments introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam, signed in 1997. He particularly mentions the extension of the co-decision procedure, the partial ‘communitisation’ of the third pillar and the incorporation of the Schengen Agreements into the framework of the European Union, but regrets that little progress was made on reforming the Community institutions.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Honorary Belgian Ambassador and Special Adviser to European Commissioner Michel Barnier from 1999 to 2004, discusses the report drafted by the group of ‘Wise Men’ (Jean-Luc Dehaene, Richard von Weizsäcker and Lord David Simon), which he chaired. This group was set up in 1999 by European Commission President Romano Prodi to reflect on the institutional implications of European Union enlargement.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Honorary Belgian Ambassador and Special Adviser to European Commissioner Michel Barnier from 1999 to 2004, gives his assessment of the 2001 Treaty of Nice, particularly emphasising the inefficiency of the negotiation process.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Honorary Belgian Ambassador and Special Adviser to European Commissioner Michel Barnier from 1999 to 2004, describes the reactions that followed the negative result in the referendum held on 7 June 2001 in Ireland for the ratification of the Treaty of Nice. Philippe de Schoutheete identifies the possible solutions that can be employed when a treaty is rejected by referendum, particularly recalling the Danish ‘no’ in the first referendum on the Treaty of Maastricht.