In his memoirs, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former German Foreign Minister, recalls the discussions on the way in which the German Democratic Republic (GDR) should be integrated into the European Communities.

On 30 October 1989, the West German news magazine Der Spiegel speculates on the ways in which the countries of Eastern Europe, including the German Democratic Republic (GDR), might be associated with the European Communities.

On 16 November 1989, the Government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) addresses a memorandum to the French Council Presidency of the European Communities concerning the relations that it intends to establish with those Communities.

On 26 January 1990, the French weekly magazine L'Express analyses the points made by Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, who is calling for the GDR to become the 13th member of the European Communities.

In 1990, the German cartoonist, Walter Hanel, ponders over the possible accession of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as the 13th Member State of the European Communities.

On 23 April 1990, the German news magazine Der Spiegel analyses the reactions of the European partners of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to the possible accession of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to the European Communities.

In 1990, the European Commission examines the possible implications of the integration of a reunified Germany into the European Community.

In a speech to the European Parliament on 16 May 1990, Charles Haughey, President-in-Office of the Council, talks of the main decisions adopted on 28 April 1990 following the Dublin European Council, particularly of those relating to the integration of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) into the European Community.

In May 1990, the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Research draws up a working document which analyses the impact of German reunification on the European Community.

On 27 June 1990, the West German daily newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments on the ‘charm offensive’ undertaken by Lothar de Maizière, Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), towards the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve meeting in Dublin.

On 17 July 1990, the European Parliament adopts a resolution which sets out the implications of German reunification for the European Community.

On 4 December 1990, the Council of the European Communities draws up a list of transitional measures required for the integration of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) into the European Economic Community (EEC).

‘Time bomb.' In 1991, the German cartoonist, Walter Hanel, portrays the high level of unemployment in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) as a threat to social cohesion in the reunified Germany.

In 1991, the German cartoonist, Walter Hanel, illustrates the steamroller effect of Western consumer society on the former German Democratic Republic (GDR).

In May 1993, in an article for the monthly legal journal Revue du Marché Commun et de l’Union Européenne, Franz Eppe, Adviser at the Commission of the European Communities, gives an account of the stages of the integration of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) into the Communities.

In 1994, the Federal German Government invests heavily in modernising the economies of the former GDR Länder, as shown on this sign outside an industrial site in Saxony-Anhalt.