In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, former official in the Private Office of the Queen of the Netherlands, explains the nature of his duties in this post between 1947 and 1950.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, official in the Private Office of the Queen of the Netherlands from 1947 to 1950 then Head of the ‘Germany’ Division and Director-General for European Affairs in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1950 and 1952, explains the reasons for the Netherlands’ interest in the arrangements for the reconstruction of Germany after the Second World War.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, Head of the ‘Germany’ Division and Director-General for European Affairs in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1950 and 1952, describes the significance in the Netherlands of the generation gap between those in favour of or opposed to the supranational approach of the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, official in the Private Office of the Queen of the Netherlands from 1947 to 1950 then Head of the ‘Germany’ Division and Director-General for European Affairs in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1950 and 1952, describes the doctrinal position of former Foreign Ministers Dirk Stikker and Johann Willem Beyen with regard to the European integration process.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, official in the Private Office of the Queen of the Netherlands from 1947 to 1950 then Head of the ‘Germany’ Division and Director-General for European Affairs in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1950 and 1952, describes how the Marshall Plan was received at the end of the 1940s in Dutch diplomatic circles, before going on to explain the scope of the proposal by Foreign Minister Johann Willem Beyen, who hoped to establish a common market between the Six in 1952 in the wake of the proposed European Political Community.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, who served as Director-General for European Affairs in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1950 to 1952 then senior official at the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) until 1967, recalls with amusement the reactions of his colleagues in the Netherlands, including Foreign Minister Johann Willem Beyen, when Wellenstein left for Luxembourg.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, senior official at the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) between 1953 and 1967, describes the role played by the High Authority in representing the ECSC on the international stage.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, senior official at the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) between 1953 and 1967, describes relations within the High Authority following the resignation of its President, Jean Monnet, in 1955, and the appointment of Monnet’s successor, René Mayer.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, senior official at the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) between 1953 and 1967, recounts how he accompanied Jean Monnet, Franz Etzel and Dirk Spierenburg on their trip to the United States to negotiate the first loan from the US to the High Authority.

In this interview, Edmund Wellenstein, Secretary then Secretary-General of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) between 1956 and 1967, explains how the coordination between the High Authority and the new EEC and Euratom Commissions in Brussels was established from 1958 onwards.