In this interview excerpt, Willy Claes, Belgian Foreign Minister from 1992 to 1994, outlines the difficulties of the bilateral negotiations on the Structural Funds during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Communities between July and December 1993. He also emphasises the important role played by Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995, in securing an agreement.

In this interview excerpt, Gérard Deprez, Member of the European Parliament from 1984 to 1999 (European People’s Party (EPP)), from 1999 to 2004 (Citizens’ Movement for Change (MCC)), from 2004 to 2009 and since 2014 (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)), lists the Members of the European Parliament who he believes have played a significant role. He mentions Altiero Spinelli, Member of the European Commission from 1970 to 1976 (with responsibility for industrial policy and research) and Member of the European Parliament from 1976 to 1986, Jacques Delors, Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981 and President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995, Fernand Herman, Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1999, Simone Veil, Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1993 and President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, Jean-Louis Bourlanges, Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 2005, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1993, Alain Lamassoure, Member of the European Parliament since 1989, Hans-Gert Pöttering, Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 2014, Chairman of the EPP Group from 1999 to 2007 and President of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009, and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2014.

In this interview excerpt, Michel Camdessus, Deputy Director of the Treasury in the French Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs from 1974 to 1982 and Director from 1982 to 1984, describes the French politicians involved in European issues that particularly left an impression on him: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Raymond Barre, François-Xavier Ortoli and Jacques Delors.

In this interview excerpt, Michel Camdessus, Deputy Director of the Treasury in the French Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs from 1974 to 1982 and Director from 1982 to 1984, and Chairman of the Monetary Committee of the European Economic Community (EEC) from 1982 to 1984, describes the process that led François Mitterrand, French President from 1981 to 1995, on the advice of Jacques Delors, Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance from 1981 to 1984, to keep France in the European Monetary System in 1983, at the cost of what is known as the ‘austerity turn’, which meant abandoning devaluations of the franc, disinflation and the strengthening of Community monetary policies.

In this interview excerpt, Michel Camdessus, Director of the French Treasury from 1982 to 1984, Governor of the Banque de France from 1984 to 1987 and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1987 to 2000, describes the circumstances in which he met Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa in 1982 when Padoa-Schioppa was a Director in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic Affairs and Finance. At this time, France was involved in negotiating its economic recovery plan with the European Communities on the initiative of Jacques Delors, Minister for the Economy, Finance and the Budget from 1981 to 1984.

Group photo of the first European Council attended by the Heads of State or Government of the Twelve, as well as by the President of the Commission, held in The Hague on 26 and 27 June 1986. Front row: Ruud Lubbers, Netherlands Prime Minister and President-in-Office of the European Council (centre), with the French Head of State, the Heads of Government and the President of the Commission (third from the left). Second row: Ministers for Foreign Affairs and the Vice-President of the Commission.

In this interview, Manfred Scheich, Head of the Austrian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Economic Policy and Integration and chief negotiator for the diplomatic negotiations on the country’s accession to the European Union from 1987 to 1995, discusses how the Austrian authorities reacted to the proposal made in January 1989 by Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities, for the establishment of a European Economic Area (EEA), and the impact of this proposal on the negotiations for Austria’s accession to the European Communities.

In this interview, Marie-Anne Werner, the daughter of Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Minister of State and President of the Government from 1959 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1984, and chairman of the group of experts set up in 1970 to draft a plan for the establishment by stages of economic and monetary union (the ‘Werner Plan'), describes from a family point of view the drafting of the report on the establishment of economic and monetary union in 1970, under the chairmanship of her father. Marie-Anne Werner also alludes to her father's disappointment when the report was put on hold and the way in which he continued to monitor the question of economic and monetary union closely. Finally, Marie-Anne Werner mentions those who Pierre Werner saw as continuing his work in this field, such as Jacques Delors, Jacques Santer and Luc Frieden.

Interview with Élisabeth Guigou, Secretary-General of the French Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation from 1985 to 1990, Policy Officer to French President François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1990, Minister for European Affairs from 1990 to 1993, Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1997, Keeper of the Seals, Minister for Justice from 1997 to 2000, Minister for Employment and Solidarity from 2000 to 2002, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the French National Assembly since 2012 and a member of the Board of Directors of the think tank Notre Europe — Jacques Delors Institute, carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 29 September 2008 in Paris. The interview was conducted by Frédéric Clavert, a Researcher at the CVCE, and particularly focuses on the following aspects: French administrations and European affairs, keeping France in the European Monetary System and the Fontainebleau revival, the role of the Secretariat-General of the Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation (SGCI) and the road to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Transcription of the interview with Élisabeth Guigou, Secretary-General of the French Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation from 1985 to 1990, Policy Officer to French President François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1990, Minister for European Affairs from 1990 to 1993, Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1997, Keeper of the Seals, Minister for Justice from 1997 to 2000, Minister for Employment and Solidarity from 2000 to 2002, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the French National Assembly since 2012 and a member of the Board of Directors of the think tank Notre Europe — Jacques Delors Institute, carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 29 September 2008 in Paris. The interview was conducted by Frédéric Clavert, a Researcher at the CVCE, and particularly focuses on the following aspects: French administrations and European affairs, keeping France in the European Monetary System and the Fontainebleau revival, the role of the Secretariat-General of the Interministerial Committee for Questions on European Economic Cooperation (SGCI) and the road to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).