In 1996, François Mitterrand, President of France from 1981 to 1995, recalls the attitudes of the various European countries towards German reunification on the eve of the Strasbourg European Council of 8 and 9 December 1989.

On the day after the meeting of the European Council in Strasbourg of 8 and 9 December 1989, the federalist magazine L’Europe en formation expresses its satisfaction at the progress achieved by the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve, with particular regard to monetary cooperation and to their attitude to the political events in Central and Eastern Europe.

In March 1990, the Portuguese economic affairs magazine Cadernos de Economia analyses the development of the European Community in the light of German reunification.

On the eve of the Dublin European Council, held on 28 April 1990, the federalist journal L’Europe en formation questions the ability of the Twelve to react to the political upheaval in Eastern Europe and to the challenge of German reunification.

Am 28. April 1990 beschließen die Staats- und Regierungschefs der Zwölf auf der Sondertagung des Europäischen Rates in Dublin die Eingliederung des wiedervereinigten Deutschlands in die Europäische Gemeinschaft.

On 28 April 1990, at the Special European Council held in Dublin, the Heads of State and Government of the Twelve take the decision to integrate a reunified Germany in the European Community.

In May 1990, the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Research draws up a working document which considers the impact of German reunification on the revenue and expenditure of the Community budget.

On 17 May 1990, the European Parliament adopts a resolution in which it welcomes the European Council’s support for the process of German reunification.

In May 1990, the French monthly magazine Le Monde diplomatique forecasts the repercussions of economic and monetary unification of the two Germanies on European integration, in particular on its political union.

Am 3. Oktober 1990 untersucht die französische Tageszeitung Le Figaro die möglichen Auswirkungen der deutschen Wiedervereinigung auf die Funktionsweise der Europäischen Gemeinschaften.

In 1996, François Mitterrand, President of France from 1981 to 1995, recalls the negative attitude of Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister, towards German reunification.

Helmut Kohl, Bundeskanzler von 1982 bis 1998, erinnert sich an die Vorbehalte der europäischen Partner gegenüber der deutschen Wiedervereinigung.

Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Außenminister der Bundesrepublik, unternimmt eine Tournee durch die Hauptstädte Europas um die europäischen Partner von der Notwendigkeit der deutschen Wiedervereinigung zu überzeugen und um ihre Ängste vor einem vereinten Deutschland zu beseitigen.

On 15 July 1990, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, West German Foreign Minister, Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, and Helmut Kohl, German Chancellor, meet in Zheleznovodsk, in the Caucasus, to consider together the process of German reunification.

On 3 October 1990, Emanuele Gazzo, Chief Editor of Agence Europe, comments on the reunification of Germany and analyses the role of a unified Germany in the European Community.

On 4 October 1990, the British left-wing newspaper The Guardian describes the fears of the British and French authorities at the prospect of German reunification.

‘It’s reunification …’ In 1990, German cartoonist Walter Hanel illustrates the fears and mistrust of the Western countries regarding the renewed influence of a reunified Germany on the international stage. French President François Mitterrand announces the arrival of reunified Germany, represented as a giant, to the countries in the Atlantic Alliance. In the back room, we recognise British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Uncle Sam (the United States).

‘Meeting.' In 1990, the German cartoonist, Walter Hanel, portrays the discrepancy between the rapidity of German reunification and the slow process of European integration.

In this interview, Jean-Jacques Kasel, Director of Political and Cultural Affairs at the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1986 to 1992, discusses the reservations and doubts expressed by several Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the European Communities regarding the question of German reunification following the fall of the Berlin Wall during the night of 9 to 10 November 1989.

In diesem Interview erinnert Jacques Santer, ehemaliger luxemburgischer Premierminister, an die Befürchtungen des italienischen Ministerpräsidenten Giulio Andreotti und des französischen Staatspräsidenten François Mitterrand Anfang der neunziger Jahre hinsichtlich der deutschen Wiedervereinigung.

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister and current Senator for Lot-et-Garonne, recalls the attitude of the French President, François Mitterrand, in November 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and the following year when Germany was reunified.

In this interview, Élisabeth Guigou, Secretary-General of the Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation (SGCI) from 1985 to 1990 and Policy Officer to French President François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1990, discusses François Mitterrand’s attitude to the upheavals that culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of Germany in 1990.

Am 17. Januar 1990 hält der deutsche Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl in Paris einen Vortrag über die Lösung der deutschen Frage in einem europäischen Rahmen.

Am 5. Juni 1990 hält der deutsche Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl vor dem American Council on Germany in New York eine Rede über die Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands unter dem Aspekt der Eingliederung der Bundesrepublik in die internationale Staatengemeinschaft.

Am 4. Oktober 1990, in seiner ersten Regierungserklärung vor dem gesamtdeutschen Bundestag, kommt Bundeskanzler Helmut Kohl auf die internationale Dimension der deutschen Wiedervereinigung zu sprechen.

Der deutsche Außenminister Hans-Dietrich Genscher erinnert sich an die Diskussionen um die Form der Eingliederung der DDR in die Europäische Gemeinschaft.

Das deutsche Nachrichtenmagazin Der Spiegel untersucht die Möglichkeiten, wie die Reformstaaten des Ostblocks, darunter die DDR, mit der Europäischen Gemeinschaft verbunden werden könnten.

Am 16. November 1989, in einem Aide-mémoire an die EG-Präsidentschaft, definiert die Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), die Entwicklung ihrer Beziehungen zur Europäischen Gemeinschaft.

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.

Das Nachrichtenmagazin Der Spiegel analysiert die Reaktionen der europäischen Partner auf einen Beitritt der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (DDR) zur Europäischen Gemeinschaft.

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 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.