In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Honorary Belgian Ambassador and economic attaché in Paris from 1958 to 1961, recalls the unfounded fears, particularly in Belgium, regarding the future of the Rome Treaties following the return of General de Gaulle, whose intergovernmental views, embodied in the 1961 and 1962 Fouchet Plans, were opposed to the more supranational views of Jean Monnet that were advocated by other Member States. Philippe de Schoutheete also discusses the reasons for France’s opposition to the United Kingdom’s first application for accession.

In this interview excerpt, Philippe de Schoutheete, Honorary Belgian Ambassador and economic attaché in Paris from 1958 to 1961, emphasises the sentiment of solidarity among the French authorities and the general public in the light of the Congo crisis that followed the independence of the Congo. He also refers to the lack of foresight within the administration of the Belgian Ministry of Colonies.