In this interview, Georges Berthoin, Principal Private Secretary (from 1952 to 1956) to Jean Monnet and then to René Mayer during their respective Presidencies of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), describes the course of the negotiations in 1954 and the implementation of the Association Agreement between the ECSC and the United Kingdom from 1955.

On 21 December 1954, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the United Kingdom sign an agreement on the basis of which the two parties intend to establish an intimate and enduring association.

On 21 December 1954, in London, the British Government, represented by the Minister, Duncan Sandys, and the President of the ECSC High Authority, Jean Monnet, sign an association agreement between the ECSC and the United Kingdom.

On 17 November 1955, René Mayer, President of the High Authority, delivers the inaugural address of the ECSC-United Kingdom Association Council. Three permanent committees are subsequently established: coal, steel and trade relations.