‘Menu: Dr ERHARD in a casserole with mushrooms and herbs. Menu: de Gaulle with sauerkraut and apple fritters. “Let me warn you, if you don’t jump into the oven straight away there’ll be no Christmas dinner!”’ On 25 December 1963, British cartoonist Michael Cummings paints an ironic picture of the tensions and distrust between Charles de Gaulle and Ludwig Erhard. The French President (on the left) and the Federal Chancellor (on the right), depicted as chefs, each have a very specific idea of what should be on the menu for their Christmas dinner. On 16 October 1963, Ludwig Erhard became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. But the Atlantic and European views of the French President and the new Federal Chancellor seem irreconcilable and the points of disagreement become increasingly numerous: their vision of Europe, the issue of British accession to the European Communities, the transatlantic link with the United States, and the question of European agriculture.