On 29 January 1973, at the Château de Val Duchesse in Auderghem, the additional protocol to the 1970 preferential trade agreement is signed by the Commission of the European Communities, represented by its President François-Xavier Ortoli, and Spain, represented by Spanish Foreign Minister Gregorio López Bravo.

The Spanish Embassy to Rome submits to the Foreign Ministry a transcript of a report drawn up for the Milan Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale on the history of Latin America, from its discovery up to the present; the report manifests its growing interest in establishing new and stronger links with Latin America, an approach that is seen by the Franco regime as a threat to its interests.

On 25 August 1976, the Spanish newspaper El País publishes an article on a meeting in Paris between Marcelino Oreja, Spanish Foreign Minister, and his French counterpart, Jean Sauvagnargues, focusing on the open political situation in Spain since the death of Franco the previous year.

Review of the work of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the debate for the preparation of the definitive report for approval by the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish Government’s accession to the Statute of the Council of Europe. This document also includes statements on the adoption of the European Social Charter and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Text of the agreement signed in Paris on 10 January 1958 between the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) and the Spanish Government on Spain’s association with the organisation.

On 29 January 1973, the additional protocol to the preferential trade agreement established in 1970 between the European Economic Community (EEC) and Spain as a result of the accession of three new Member States to the EEC (the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland) is signed at the Château de Val Duchesse. From left to right: Gregorio López-Bravo, Spanish Foreign Minister, Renaat Van Elslande, Belgian Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council of the EEC, and François Xavier Ortoli, President of the Commission of the EEC.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Adviser in the Belgian Embassy to Madrid from 1969 to 1972, describes the relations between Spain and the European Communities during this period.

On 28 June 1967, at a press conference, Renaat Elslande, Belgian Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council, discusses the preparation of a mandate for negotiations with Spain in anticipation of the signing of a preferential trade agreement. The agreement would be made official in 1970.

On 21 September 1967, in the JECL building in Brussels (so named because it is bordered by Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée, Cortenbergh and Rue de la Loi), the negotiations for the signing of a preferential trade agreement between Spain and the European Communities begin. Alberto Ullastres Calvo, Spanish Permanent Representative to the European Communities, leads the Spanish delegation, while Axel Herbst, Director-General of Directorate-General I (DG I) for External Relations, heads the delegation of the Commission of the European Communities.