The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) was signed in Rome on 25 March 1957 by the representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Annex IV lists the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) associated with the EEC.

The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) was signed in Rome on 25 March 1957 by the representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The Treaty includes an implementing convention which, for five years, regulates the operation of the Development Fund for the Overseas Countries and Territories (FEDOM) associated with the European Common Market.

On 23 July 1961, the French daily newspaper Le Monde analyses the implications of the association of African countries with the European Economic Community (EEC), given that more and more African States are gaining political independence and that the association arrangement laid down in the Treaty of Rome expires in 1962.

Map published by the Press and Information Service of the European Communities showing the six Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the associated Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) as on 1 July 1961.

On 1 June 1960, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the way in which, using the visit to the Kremlin of the Malian leader, Modibo Keita, to his advantage, Nikita S. Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, harshly criticises the policy of cooperation between the Six and the continent of Africa.

On 2 June 1960, the German daily newspaper Die Welt considers how to adapt cooperation between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the African countries, given that growing numbers of them are gaining independence.

In July 1960, the monthly publication Communauté européenne considers possible links between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the associated overseas countries on the verge of gaining independence.

‘Freedom in the Congo.’ On 16 July 1960, the German cartoonist, Herbert Kolfhaus, takes an ironic look at the direct consequences of the independence granted to the Belgian Congo on 30 June 1960.

On 8 September 1960, Robert Lemaignen, French Member of the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC) from 1958 to 1961, defines the meaning of cooperation between the Community and the countries of Africa.

‘Siege’. In 1962, the Soviet publication Krokodil criticises Europe’s colonial domination of Africa and supports African countries in their bid for independence.

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the European Economic Community and the 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM) sign the first convention, valid for a period of five years, confirming the association between Europe and Africa on the basis of free trade and financial aid from the Six.

On 20 July 1963, Walter Hallstein, President of the European Commission, welcomes the signing, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, of the first Convention of Association between the Community, its six Member States and 18 states known collectively as the Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Walter Hallstein, President of the European Commission, signs the first Convention of Association between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the Six and the 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM) sign a Convention that is valid for five years, confirming the Europe–Africa Association on the basis of free trade and financial aid from the Six.

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Jean-Marie Koné, Minister of State with responsibility for Planning of the Republic of Mali (left), and Mohammed Sidi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (right), sign the first Association Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

On 21 July 1963, the day after the signing in Yaoundé, Cameroon, of the first Association Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 18 states known collectively as the Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM), the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the main provisions of the agreement.

In April 1969, Mario Pedini, Italian Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, reviews the Yaoundé Conventions, providing details of the use of Community subsidies for the period 1966–68, and speculates on the issues surrounding the new convention due to be concluded.

The European Development Fund (EDF), established by the Treaty of Rome of 25 March 1957, enables the funding of economic and social infrastructures. The photo shows the example of the maternity unit in Ngozi, Burundi.