At the conference held from 25 to 28 March 1987 in Rome to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), Pierre Uri, former Director of the ‘General Economy’ Department of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), recalls the circumstances surrounding his participation in the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom and outlines the proceedings of the Val Duchesse negotiations.