In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, discusses the early difficulties encountered in the implementation of the single market, despite the fact that it was underpinned by genuine political will.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1987 to 1997, describes the introduction of multiannual financial perspectives (‘Delors I package’) and the related emergence of regional policy, from which Belgium was also able to benefit.