On 13 May 1970, the Council of the European Communities identifies the significant problems for the United Kingdom’s relations with the Commonwealth countries which would result from its accession to the Common Market.

In May 1970, the West India Committee publishes a booklet in which it outlines the possible impact of the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Common Market on trade in products from the Caribbean.

On 15 June 1970, as negotiations are held for the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Economic Community (EEC), Jean-René Bernard, General Secretary of the French Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation (SGCI), analyses the possible consequences for French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa if the African Commonwealth countries were to join the Yaoundé Association.

On 30 June 1970, in Luxembourg, a diplomatic conference brings together the Six and the four candidate countries applying for membership of the European Communities (the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and Norway)

On 4 December 1970, as negotiations are held for the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Economic Community (EEC), the General Secretariat of the French Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation (SGCI), a body under the authority of French Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas, forwards a note from the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Communities (EC) on the position of the EC regarding the independent Commonwealth countries.

On 30 June 1970, negotiations open in Luxembourg between the Six and the four candidate countries. In its coverage of the event, German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung examines the impact of the United Kingdom's application to join the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 19 February 1971, during the negotiations on the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Communities, the British weekly political magazine The New Statesman and Nation speculates on the future of trade in sugar from Commonwealth countries and also criticises the common agricultural policy (CAP).

On 14 May 1971, the New Zealand cartoonist, Leslie Gibbard, takes an ironic look at the efforts made by Geoffrey Rippon (left), Head of the British Delegation at the negotiations on the United Kingdom's accession to the European Common Market, to resolve the issue of trade in food products from Commonwealth countries, while Georges Pompidou (right), President of the French Republic, looks on suspiciously.

On 18 May 1971, as negotiations are held for the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Economic Community, New Zealand cartoonist Leslie Gibbard illustrates the difficulties involved in the settlement of the issue of butter from New Zealand. (From left to right: Edward Heath, British Prime Minister; Georges Pompidou, President of the French Republic, and, in the background, John Marshall, New Zealand Prime Minister.)

On 3 June 1971, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera comments on the measures introduced to deal with the issue of Commonwealth sugar exports.

On 7 June 1971, in its coverage of the negotiations on the United Kingdom's accession to the European Common Market, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel considers the issue of the export of New Zealand butter to the United Kingdom.

From 21 to 24 June 1971, British MPs meet in the House of Commons to debate the issue of the United Kingdom's relations with the countries of the Commonwealth in the event of the UK's accession to the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 23 June 1971, at the end of two days of talks in Luxembourg, the diplomatic delegation from Britain and representatives of the Six reach a provisional agreement on the conditions for the United Kingdom's accession to the European common market.

On 23 June 1971, an internal note from the Commission of the European Communities outlines the results of the latest negotiations with the United Kingdom on the organisation of the common market for dairy products from New Zealand.

On 23 June 1971, the French newspaper Le Monde comments on the outcome of lengthy negotiations between the United Kingdom and the Six on the subject of importing agricultural produce from New Zealand to the European common market.

On 23 June 1971, German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung comments on the agreement signed, on the same day in Luxembourg, by representatives of the Six and of the United Kingdom. This agreement resolved the issue of New Zealand butter being exported to the United Kingdom following the accession of the latter to the European common market.

On 23 June 1971, French daily newspaper Le Figaro comments on the difficult negotiations between the United Kingdom and the Six on the issue of New Zealand dairy products.

On 22 January 1972 at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels, following 19 months of diplomatic negotiations, representatives of Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom sign the Treaties of Accession to the European Communities.

On 22 January 1972, the United Kingdom Delegation signs the Treaty of Accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) in Brussels. On this occasion, British Prime Minister, Edward Heath, focuses on the new role of the European Community on the international stage.

In February 1972, the Directorate-General for Development Aid of the Commission of the European Communities (EC) proposes several alternatives for establishing future cooperation between the enlarged EC and the 20 independent Commonwealth countries.

Following his previous statement of 1st April 1974 on British renegotiation, the British Foreign Secretary, James Callaghan, clarifies for his European colleagues at the meeting of the Council of Ministers in Luxembourg on 4 June 1974, the changes that he and his Government would like to see made to Community policies and decisions, with particular regard to the budgetary question.

On 1 April 1974, New Zealand cartoonist Leslie Gibbard takes an ironic look at the position of French President Georges Pompidou regarding the request made by James Callaghan (left), British Foreign Secretary, for a renegotiation of the conditions governing his country’s accession to the Common Market.

In June 1974, commenting on the British request to renegotiate the conditions of the country’s membership of the Common Market, the monthly publication 30 jours d’Europe examines the economic weight of the Commonwealth for the United Kingdom.

In a letter sent to the editor-in-chief of the left-of-centre British newspaper The Guardian in June 1975, the British Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Fred Peart, defends the agreements concluded between the Six, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries relating to the sugar trade within the European common market.

On 27 February 1975, New Zealand cartoonist Leslie Gibbard takes an ironic look at the issues surrounding the forthcoming referendum to be held in June 1975 in the United Kingdom on whether or not the country should remain in the European Economic Community (EEC). On the right on the rowing boat, Harold Wilson, British Prime Minister.

On 7 June 1975, the British Conservative tabloid the Daily Mail leads with the triumph of the ‘Yes' vote in the referendum on whether to stay in the European Economic Community (EEC) organised in the United Kingdom two days earlier.

On 19 June 1978, German weekly Der Spiegel describes the ongoing discussions between the European Economic Community (EEC) and Australia on the issue of imports of Australian agricultural produce into the European market.