In this interview excerpt, Willy Claes, Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs from 1973 to 1974, from 1977 to 1982 and from 1988 to 1992, Foreign Minister from 1992 to 1994 and Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) from 1994 to 1995, discusses the origins of his interest in the European idea and his commitment to European integration. He recalls how he was attracted by the European federalist movement at school at the Athénée Royal in Hasselt and the fact that, as a student in political and administrative sciences at the Free University of Brussels, he closely followed the discussions and negotiations in Val Duchesse that led to the signing, on 25 March 1957, of the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).

In this interview excerpt, Willy Claes, Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs from 1973 to 1974, from 1977 to 1982 and from 1988 to 1992, Foreign Minister from 1992 to 1994 and Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) from 1994 to 1995, describes his first encounter and contacts with Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Prime Minister from 1938 to 1939, in 1946 and from 1947 to 1949, Foreign Minister from 1936 to 1939, from 1939 to 1940 and from 1954 to 1957, President of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) from 1952 to 1954 and NATO Secretary General from 1957 to 1961. Willy Claes also emphasises his admiration for Paul-Henri Spaak, particularly mentioning his political vision and eloquence.