On 22 July 1972, as the trade agreements between the European Economic Community and Austria, Finland, Iceland, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland are signed in Brussels, Jean-François Deniau, Member of the Commission, gives an address in which he outlines the importance of these agreements for the progress of European integration and relations with the other Member States of the Community.
On 3 September 1956, as the Annual Conference of the Parliamentary Council of the European Movement is being held in Vienna, the daily newspaper of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Österreichische Neue Tageszeitung, discusses the political implications of the European idea and emphasises Austria’s role in the European integration process.
In 1948, in order to highlight the benefits of economic cooperation and of the Marshall Plan in Europe, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) charters a train, its five carriages forming a travelling exhibition passing through no less than 18 European countries. In 1952, a poster announces the arrival of the ‘European train’ in Austria.
On 8 March 1956, Léon Marchal, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, sends a letter to Eduard Ludwig, Minister Plenipotentiary and official Observer of the Austrian Government at the Council of Europe, in which he outlines the procedures for Austria’s accession to the Council of Europe.
On 16 April 1956, in Strasbourg, Gaetano Martino (right), Italian Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, congratulates Leopold Figl (left), Austrian Foreign Minister, on Austria’s accession to the Council of Europe.
In 1956, following Austria’s accession to the Council of Europe, Eduard Ludwig, Minister Plenipotentiary and official Observer of the Austrian Government at the Council of Europe, calls for an increase in the number of seats allocated to the Austrian representatives in the Consultative Assembly.
In December 1959, in an article for the journal Österreichische Monatshefte, Fritz Bock, Austrian Minister for Trade and Industry, analyses the reasons for the failure of the large European free trade area and refers to the special position of Austria, torn between participation in the future European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and its efforts to secure possible accession to the European Communities.
On 26 November 1959, in its coverage of the Austrian National Council's debates about Austria's accession to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Vienna-based daily newspaper Die Presse criticises the way in which MPs seem to have been presented with a fait accompli by the government.
On 23 June 1964, the Austrian daily newspaper Arbeiter-Zeitung takes a critical look at the differences of opinion in the Austrian Government over the stance that should be adopted during the negotiations held in Brussels. It emphasises that the aim of Austria’s policy of integration should be a strengthening of links with the EEC without having to abandon the advantages derived from its participation in EFTA.
