On 23 October 1952, during the ratification procedure for the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC), the Assembly of the French Union invites the government to reconsider the provisions of the treaty with a view to maintaining a balance within Europe and safeguarding the French Union.

On 23 December 1952, the French Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN) publishes an introductory note on the economic consequences of the participation of France’s overseas countries and territories (OCTs) in a European community.

On 20 April 1953, the French Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN) publishes a summary of the work carried out on the main economic issues that could arise with the integration of the French Union into a European community.

On 26 March 1954, a note from the Directorate of Economic Affairs and Planning in the Ministry for Overseas France examines the economic consequences that the exclusion of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) from the European Political Community (EPC) would have for mainland France and for the OCTs.

On 9 February 1955, the French National Planning Board’s working committee on the economic integration of mainland France and the overseas countries publishes an analysis by Pierre Nacivet on the issues surrounding the integration of the French Union into the Europe of Six.

On 3 May 1956, a note from the Directorate for Economic Affairs and Planning in the Ministry for Overseas France outlines the economic implications that France’s accession to the future Common Market would have for mainland France and for the overseas countries and territories (OCTs).

On 17 February 1955, William Allan Cunningham Mathieson, a British diplomat in the Colonial Office, sends a letter to Léon Pignon, Political Affairs Director in the Ministry for Overseas France, in which he outlines the concerns in the Colonial Office over Recommendation 61 of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe on the so-called “Strasbourg Plan” for the integration of colonial development with European economic unity. British objections concern both economic reasons and also the political impact of the Strasbourg Plan. Recommendation 61 concerning the Special Report of the OEEC on the Strasbourg Plan sets out the principle that ‘the policy of European integration entails, as a corollary, cooperation in the interests of their common prosperity, between metropolitan powers, the overseas countries which have constitutional links with them and the other member countries of the Council of Europe’.

In a note dated 15 May 1956, the Political Affairs Director in the Ministry for Overseas France, Léon Pignon, outlines his position on the issues raised for overseas France by the future European Common Market.

On 17 May 1956, Gaston Defferre, Minister for Overseas France, sends a detailed letter to the President of the French Council, Guy Mollet, in which he describes the importance for France of associating the territories of the French Union with the planned European Common Market.

On 24 May 1956, Pierre Uri, Director of the General Economy Division of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), draws up a note in which he considers the economic and political aspects of a possible association of the French Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 18 September 1956, a note from the Directorate for Economic Affairs and Planning in the Ministry for Overseas France lists a series of questions concerning the issues raised with regard to the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) by France’s accession to the future European Common Market.

On 5 October 1956, the Interministerial Committee on the Common Market, the ‘Verret Committee’, sets out the position of France on the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 27 October 1957, during the eighth Franco-Belgian Interparliamentary Congress in Liège, Luc Durand-Réville, Gabon Senator and President of the Equatorial African Section of the French Central Committee for Overseas Countries (FCCOC), submits a report on the possible integration of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) in the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 28 December 1956, in an article in the French weekly publication L’Express, Georges Boris, former adviser to Pierre Mendès France, harshly criticises plans to include the overseas countries and territories (OCT) in the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 6 January 1957, the Ghent daily newspaper La Flandre Libérale outlines the arguments put forward in France by opponents to the idea of Eurafrica and to the planned association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 14 January 1957, the Political Affairs Directorate of the Ministry for Overseas France drafts a note on the potential integration of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) in the future Common Market.

On 15 January 1957, in Paris, Robert Lemaignen, President of the Société Commerciale des Ports Africains (SOCOPAO) in French West Africa (FWA) and Chairman of the Committee on International Economic Relations of the National Council of French Employers (CNPF), presents a report which sets out the implications and attributes of the future European Economic Community (EEC) and how this will affect the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

On 18 January 1957, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese MP and Member of the African Convention Group in the French National Assembly, expresses his concerns at the possible economic and political consequences of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 4 February 1957, the General Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry reports on the debates in the Assembly of the French Union over the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the Common Market. The Assembly voted to adopt a proposal in favour of the gradual participation of the OCTs in the Common Market but also requested preferential arrangements for agricultural products and the contribution of France’s partners to economic and social infrastructure expenses.

On 5 February 1957, the French Foreign Ministry’s Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs draws up a note outlining the positions adopted by the national delegations with regard to the association of overseas territories with the European Common Market.

During the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and on Euratom, the French Delegation reviews the issue of the economic association of the overseas countries and territories with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 27 January 1958, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reports on the statements made by the Minister for Overseas France, Louis Jacquinot, on France’s domestic and foreign policy. The minister emphasises that France’s greatness and strength lie in its mainland and overseas territories. He believes that the prosperity of the French Union should therefore take precedence over the establishment of a European entity.

In September 1958, the National Association in Support of General de Gaulle publishes an information brochure about the development of the French Union since 1946. The first section describes the system established by the 1946 Constitution and the second part examines the current move towards a federal system.

In October 1956, the French and Belgian authorities draw up a joint report in which they review the financial arrangement for the possible association of their overseas countries and territories with the European Economic Community (EEC). The report will be discussed on 15 November 1956 by the Committee of Heads of Delegation at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom.

On the eve of the presentation of a Franco-Belgian report on the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC), Raymond Bousquet, French Ambassador to Belgium, sends a report to French Foreign Minister Christian Pineau in which he examines the state of trade between the Six and the OCTs.

On 16 November 1956, the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom addresses a letter to the Committee of Heads of Delegation in which it defines its priorities pertaining to the conditions for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 24 November 1956, having considered the Franco-Belgian proposal, the Committee of Heads of Delegation of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom summarises the implications and the terms of the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 28 November 1956, the Netherlands Delegation in the ad hoc Overseas Territories Committee established by the Common Market Committee of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom produces a questionnaire which draws up a list of the technical points raised by the Franco-Belgian proposals on the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

In December 1956, the Belgian Delegation to the Val Duchesse negotiations drafts a note outlining the position of the Belgian Congo and Rwanda-Urundi regarding the possibility of the overseas countries and territories participating in the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 6 December 1956, the German delegation in the Ad-Hoc Overseas Territories Group created by the Common Market Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom draws up a questionnaire in which it outlines the points to be clarified concerning the public investment regime in anticipation of the possible association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 8 December 1956, Heinrich von Brentano, Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, sends a letter to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in which he outlines the arguments of France and Belgium in favour of the need to associate the overseas countries and territories.

On 10 December 1956, the German Delegation in the ad hoc Overseas Territories Group established by the Common Market Committee of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom produces a questionnaire which draws up a list of issues to be studied in advance of any association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

On 10 December 1956, in Paris, the Italian Delegation in the ad hoc Overseas Territories Group established by the Common Market Committee of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom draws up a list of questions regarding the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 13 December 1956, the Ad-Hoc Overseas Territories Group in the Common Market Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom reviews the negotiations under way on the question of the possible association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 18 December 1956, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, drafts a preamble that sets out the objectives and arrangements for the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 6 January 1957, Pierre Uri, Director of the General Economy Division of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), drafts a memorandum in a personal capacity in which he proposes solutions to the problem of the overseas territories, particularly the question of the participation by Community countries in the investment burden.

On 16 January 1957, the French daily newspaper Combat outlines the implications and difficulties of the association of the French Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 20 January 1957, the Heads of Delegation of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom define the principles and procedures of the system for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 30 January 1957, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, assesses the progress made in the negotiations between the Six on the possible association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 1 February 1957, following a request from the recent conference of foreign ministers of the Six, the French delegation indicates how much France contributes financially to social investments in the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) that are likely to participate in the Common Market.

On 18 February 1957, the Foreign Ministers of the six countries participating in the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom in Val Duchesse meet in Paris in order to finalise the arrangements for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 19 and 20 February 1957, the Heads of Government and the Foreign Ministers of the six countries participating in the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom meet at the Hôtel Matignon in Paris to take stock of the ongoing negotiations at the Château de Val Duchesse and conduct the final political arrangements with regard to property rights for Euratom special fissile material and the conditions for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 20 February 1957, the Italian magazine Critica Sociale outlines the implications of the establishment of a Common Market in Europe and of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

‘At all costs — the nut will be cracked!’ On 21 February 1957, commenting in the daily newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in response to the decision taken by the Heads of State or Government of the Six to associate the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC), the cartoonist, Conrad, takes an ironic look at the attitude of France, which is putting pressure on its European partners in order to promote trade in products from the French Union and to finance their development.

On 22 February 1957, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and its European regional organisation make a joint statement on the implications of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the Common Market.

On 24 February 1957, basing its article on the case of the Belgian Congo, the liberal Charleroi daily newspaper La Nouvelle Gazette welcomes the arrangements for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 25 February 1957, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, delivers an address to the Mars et Mercure Industrial and Commercial Circle of Former Officers and Reserve Officers in which he outlines some of the economic and political implications of the Common Market, with particular regard to the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

On 1 March 1957, in the Brussels daily newspaper La Dernière Heure, Roger Motz, member of the Belgian Senate and President of the Belgian Liberal Party (PLB), describes the international implications and the advantages of the arrangements for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 8 March 1957, the Consulate-General of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in Nairobi discusses public reaction to and comments made by the Kenyan press on the establishment of a European Common Market.

On 12 March 1957, Baron Jean-Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers, Secretary-General of the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs and President of the Belgian Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, delivers an address to an audience of Belgian civil servants in which he gives an assessment of the revival of European integration and of the Val Duchesse negotiations, with particular regard to the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).

On 16 March 1957, in the Charleroi daily newspaper La Nouvelle Gazette, Paul Rohr, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Belgian Liberal Party (PLB), identifies the economic and political implications of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 17 March 1957, in the Brussels weekly newspaper Le Phare Dimanche, Maurice Masoin, Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), describes the implications of the arrangements for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC), emphasising, in particular, the special situation of the Belgian Congo.

On 18 March 1957, the Netherlands Council of Ministers states its position on the regime for the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 19 March 1957, one week before the signing of the Rome Treaties, an internal note from the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) explains the political reasons that led the German delegation to accept the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Economic Community (EEC).

‘Common market: “Go on, Michel, shut your eyes and think of Europe!”’ In 1957, the German cartoonist Köhler portrays the fears of the Federal Republic of Germany regarding the European national contributions towards financing investments in the economic and social infrastructure in North Africa.

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.

‘The oasis.’ On 28 March 1957, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité attacks the Eurafrica proposal which it sees as the pillaging of Saharan oil by Anglo-American oil companies and German trusts.

In March 1957, in La Revue Politique, the official publication of the Belgian Social Christian Party (PSC), Raymond Scheyven, Brussels-based Catholic MP, outlines the principles and operation of the scheme for the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC), with particular regard to the situation in the Belgian Congo.

In April 1957, in an article for the magazine Belgique d’Outre-mer, the Belgian economist, Louis Ameye, outlines the principles and procedures of the system for associating the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 25 November 1957, during the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations in Geneva, the Ghanaian Delegation expresses its concern about the implications of the association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC) for Ghanaian cocoa exports to the Six.

On 14 March 1958, the Committee of the Association of Belgian Colonial Interests (AICB), composed of the directors of companies based in the Belgian Congo, presents its annual report to the general meeting. This report welcomes the association regime between the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) and the European Economic Community (EEC).

In December 1958, Enrico Carboni submits a report on behalf of the European Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on the Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) which examines all the sections of the first general report on the activities of the European Economic Community (EEC) with regard to the association of the OCTs.

In January 1959, Enrico Carboni submits an additional report on behalf of the European Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on the Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) on the issues raised by the association of the OCTs, including a motion for a resolution. He particularly requests further details on the requirements of the OCTs in the area of economic development, and asks for studies to be carried out on the social conditions in these countries.

In March 1959, the monthly publication L’Outre-Mer Africain welcomes the arrangements for the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the European Economic Community (EEC) and outlines the arguments in favour of this association.

In this report drawn up in October 1959 on behalf of the European Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on the Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and the delegation tasked with carrying out a fact-finding mission in some of the associated countries and territories in Central Africa, rapporteur Jean Duvieusart examines the legal, political and informational issues raised by the association of the European Economic Community (EEC) with the OCTs. He particularly looks at the principle of association and the issues related to the long-term policy of association.

In this report drawn up in November 1959 on behalf of the European Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on the Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and the delegation tasked with carrying out a fact-finding mission in the OCTs, rapporteur Alain Peyrefitte analyses the economic issues raised by the association of the OCTs with the Common Market and especially looks at the prospects for economic development in Africa by means of European aid.

In November 1959, on behalf of the European Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on the Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and the delegation tasked with carrying out a fact-finding mission in the OCTs, Gerard Marinus Nederhorst submits a report on social issues in the African countries associated with the European Economic Community (EEC). He particularly focuses on the financial aid granted to the associated countries and the various social initiatives.

In this additional report dated November 1959 by the European Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on the Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), rapporteur Walter Scheel examines the issues raised by the association of the OCTs with the European Economic Community (EEC) in order to conclude the analysis of political, legal, economic and social aspects.