Am 21. Oktober 1966 erläutert der luxemburgische Außenminister Pierre Werner seinen Mitbürgern die Bedeutung des Fusionsvertrages für die Exekutivorgane der drei Europäischen Gemeinschaften nach dessen Ratifizierung durch das luxemburgische Abgeordnetenhaus.

In this interview excerpt, Gérard Deprez, PhD in Sociology from the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), leader of the Walloon Christian Social Party (PSC) from 1981 to 1996, Member of the European Parliament from 1984 to 1999 (European People’s Party (EPP)), from 1999 to 2004 (Citizens’ Movement for Change (MCC)), from 2004 to 2009 and since 2014 (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)) and Delegate-General of the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004, explains how he first became interested in Europe in his youth following his experiences in the aftermath of the Second World War. He also describes his university and political career, mentioning his PhD thesis entitled ‘The Commission of the European Communities: a sociological essay on a captive organisation’, in which he analysed the Commission’s management methods and its role in the Community system.

Interview with Josep Borrell Fontelles, Spanish Minister for Public Works (1991–1996), Member of the European Parliament (1996–2004), Member of the Convention on the Future of Europe (2002–2003) and President of the European Parliament (2004–2007), carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 13 July 2011 in San Domenico di Fiesole (Florence). The interview was conducted by Cristina Blanco Sío-López, a Researcher at the CVCE, and particularly focuses on the following subjects: the origins of his European commitment; Spain’s accession to the European Communities; the EU’s interinstitutional relations and, in particular, the role of the European Parliament and the Socialist Group in the European integration process; the Convention on the Future of Europe; the potential of the Treaty of Lisbon; and his experience at the head of the Joint Committee for EU Affairs, the European Parliament and the European University Institute.

On 18 April 1989, the Spanish daily newspaper El País analyses the impact of the economic and monetary union (EMU) propounded by Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, on the functioning of the European Communities.

Am 8. April 1972 kommentiert die Pariser RTL-Redaktion das Referendum, in dem die Franzosen am 23. April über die Ratifizierung des Beitrittsvertrages des Vereinigten Königreichs, Irlands, Dänemarks und Norwegens zu den Europäischen Gemeinschaften abstimmen sollen, und fragt nach den Hintergründen der Pläne Sicco Mansholts, Präsident der Europäischen Kommission, die Gemeinsame Agrarpolitik (GAP) umfassend zu reformieren.

In diesem Gespräch beschreibt Pierre Pescatore, von 1967 bis 1985 Richter am Gerichtshof der Europäischen Gemeinschaften, die Beziehung zwischen dem Richter der nationalen Rechtsprechung und dem Richter der gemeinschaftlichen Rechtsprechung, besonders im Hinblick auf das Verfahren des Vorabentscheidungsersuchens.

Francisco Fonseca, Director of the European Commission Representation in Spain, discusses his professional career in the European institutions and gives his views on the process leading to Spain’s accession to the European Communities, which he describes as the search for a role within an increasingly integrated Europe. He also analyses the parallel and interdependent nature of Spain’s transition to democracy and its accession to the European Communities, and the difficulties in achieving a balance between the obligations of the internal market and the requirements of the cohesion policy. Finally, he discusses the frontiers of the European integration process and the need for further development of the European Union’s neighbourhood policy.

Interview with Bernard Snoy et d’Oppuers, an official at the World Bank from 1974 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1986, Economic Adviser at the Commission of the European Communities in the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs from 1986 to 1988, Executive Director of the World Bank from 1991 to 1994, Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from 1994 to 2002 and Chairman of Robert Triffin International since 2008, carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 23 October 2015 at his home, the Château de Bois-Seigneur-Isaac, in Ophain, Belgium. The interview was conducted by Elena Danescu, a Researcher at the CVCE, and particularly focuses on the following subjects: the personality and work of his father Jean-Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers, the World Bank in the 1970s and 1980s, the composition and work of the Delors Committee, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Belgium and the Maastricht Treaty negotiations, the transition to democracy of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Working Table on ‘Economic reconstruction, development and cooperation’ within the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe.

In this interview excerpt, Bernard Snoy et d’Oppuers, an official at the World Bank from 1974 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1986, Economic Adviser at the Commission of the European Communities in the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs from 1986 to 1988, Executive Director of the World Bank from 1991 to 1994, Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from 1994 to 2002 and Chairman of Robert Triffin International since 2008, describes Belgium’s priorities for the revival of European integration in the second half of the 1950s. His father, Count Jean-Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers, former head of the Belgian delegation to the Intergovernmental Committee created by the Messina Conference and to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom and former Chairman of the Interim Committee for the Common Market and Euratom, played a major role in this process.

On 18 January 1971, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry sends to its Diplomatic Missions abroad a confidential circular to inform them of the operation and aims of the exploratory talks which began on 7 January in Brussels between Ruy Teixeira Guerra, Head of the Portuguese Delegation, and Edmond Wellenstein, Director-General of Foreign Trade at the Commission of the European Communities.