The idea of the establishment of a European Council prevails at the Paris Summit of the Heads of Government of the nine Member States of the European Communities in December 1974.

In 1974, following the meeting of the Heads of State or Government of the EEC Member States held in Paris, the participants posed for photos on the steps of the Élysée.

‘European Summit’. On 11 December 1974, following the Paris Summit, German cartoonist Ernst Maria Lang depicts the efforts made by Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, President of the French Republic, and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to implement a system of regular meetings between the Heads of State or Government of the Nine. Sat on one of the ‘summits’, pipe in hand, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson observes with interest as France and Germany attempt to offer each other mutual support.

The London European Council on 29 and 30 June 1977 led to an agreement on the organisation of European Council meetings.

Leo Tindemans was Belgian Prime Minister from 1974 to 1978. In January 1977, he gives a first evaluation of the European Council.

In this interview, Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, former Belgian Foreign Minister, discusses the Venice and London European Summits which he attended in 1980 and 1981 and outlines the role that this type of diplomatic meeting plays in European and international affairs.