In this interview, André Dubois, former Director of Commercial Policy at the Council of the European Communities, recalls the role of the General Secretariat of the Council and the role of the Commission in the trade negotiations conducted by the European Community.

In its resolution of 10 February 1994, the European Parliament ‘notes with satisfaction’ the work of the Committee on Institutional Affairs which has resulted in a draft Constitution for the European Union, as submitted by its rapporteur, Fernand Herman, and annexes the draft to the resolution so that it may be as widely disseminated as possible.

In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former Permanent Secretary at the Luxembourg Ministry for Foreign Affairs, outlines what were, in his opinion, the institutional causes of the empty chair crisis.

In this interview excerpt, Jean Mischo, a member of the Legal Service of the European Commission from 1964 to 1969, describes the impact within the European institutions of the empty chair crisis, the disagreement which arose between France and the five other Member States of the European Communities in June 1965 over the funding of the common agricultural policy (CAP). He also explains the effect of the Luxembourg Compromise, which brought the crisis to an end in January 1966. This arrangement stipulated that if a Member State believed that its vital interests were at stake, negotiations had to continue until a universally acceptable compromise was reached.

In this interview, Georges Berthoin, Head of the Delegation of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), then of the Commission of the European Communities to the United Kingdom until 1973, describes the issues dominating negotiations for the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities from 1970 to 1972 and the course of those negotiations.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, called to Brussels in 1959 by Robert Marjolin, Vice-President of the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC), in order to participate in the establishment of his Press Service, describes the opinion of Marjolin, former Secretary-General of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), on the role of the European Communities.

On 31 December 1998, on the eve of the beginning of the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union, the Council adopts the Statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee. The tasks of this Committee, set up by Article 114 (ex Article 109c) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, are to keep under review the economic and financial situation of the Member States and of the Community, as well as the general payments system of the Member States, and to report regularly thereon to the Council and to the Commission.

In this interview, Hans-August Lücker, former Co-Chairman of the European Parliament/Spanish Cortes Joint Committee set up to make preparations for Spain's accession to the European Communities, recalls the reluctance of Italy and France to envisage opening the Communities to Spain.

On 26 November 2001, the Italian Senate’s Third Committee and Council for European Community Affairs submit their report concerning the debate on the future of Europe, drawn up jointly with the Third and Fourth Committees of the Chamber, to the Presidency. This report is the basis of the parliamentary debates that will inform the government’s position at the Laeken European Council.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, discusses the negotiations that preceded the accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Communities, and particularly reflects on the role that he played in these negotiations.