‘It’s in your best interest to stay on good terms with me, gentlemen, for I’m thinking of becoming the third force …’ In 1957, the German cartoonist Köhler questions the role to be played by Europe on the international stage.

On 14 April 1958, the Action Committee for a United States of Europe adopts a draft resolution on the relations to be established between the European Economic Community (EEC) and third countries, in particular the United Kingdom.

‘The third force — Up you go, Harold!’ On 20 August 1960, the German satirical weekly magazine Simplicissimus leads on Europe’s tricky attempts to position itself on the international stage (from bottom to top, Harold MacMillan, Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer) between the two great powers of the United States (left, Dwight D. Eisenhower) and the Soviet Union (right, Nikita S. Khrushchev).

On 26 June 1962, the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (CAEUE) welcomes the United Kingdom's request for membership of the European Communities and calls for stronger ties between the United States and a united Europe.

On 26 June 1962, Victor Bodson, representative of the Luxembourg Socialist Party in the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE), comments on the statement made the same day by the Committee on the United Kingdom’s application for accession to the European Communities and on the strengthening of the Communities’ links with the United States.

On 3 May 1965, in Paris, the European Movement expresses its determination to see Europe establish the defence and foreign policy institutions that it requires in order to play a greater role on the international stage.

Table showing a sustained increase in the European Community's external trade and its importance in comparison with other countries or economic areas.

Table showing imports and exports between the EEC and third countries from 1958 to 1957, and the importance of trade with other European countries.

Table showing the evolution in trade between the European Community and the group of developing countries and territories between 1958 and 1971.

On 2 May 1962, the Brussels daily newspaper La Libre Belgique considers what kind of relations the Six should have with the potential applicant countries for accession to or association with the European Communities, regardless of the stance taken by the European Socialist parties in particular vis-à-vis Francoist Spain.