On 2 January 1981, Altiero Spinelli sends a letter to Egon Klepsch, Member of the European Parliament and President of the EPP. Spinelli answers his colleague’s questions on the ‘crocodile resolution’ and, more broadly, on the procedure for institutional reform and the strategy it prescribes.

On 12 December 1980, Simone Veil, President of the European Parliament, gives her views at the Europa-Union Congress in Munich on the economic, social and budgetary difficulties facing the European Community. She raises various solutions and recommends amending administrative practices rather than reforming the institutions.

On 3 January 1981, Altiero Spinelli sends a letter to Simone Veil, President of the European Parliament. Spinelli discusses the views that Veil recently expressed on the state of the European Community, criticising these views for lacking commitment to institutional reform and instead asserting the position that he set out in his ‘crocodile’ letters.

From 24 to 26 May 1982, Altiero Spinelli annotates the European Parliament’s motion for a resolution to take into account as far as possible the amendments proposed by the members of the Institutional Committee.

On 21 June 1982, Altiero Spinelli, rapporteur and coordinator of the Institutional Committee, submits to the vote of the Members of the European Parliament on behalf of the Committee a motion for a resolution on the European Parliament guidelines concerning the reform of the treaties and the establishment of a European union. The explanatory statement is published separately.

On 6 July 1982, the correspondents of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung comment on the guidelines proposed by the European Parliament for the reform of the treaties and the establishment of a European union. The Swiss daily newspaper regrets the vagueness of the framework established by the resolution and fears that, once clarified, this framework will become a contentious issue for the institutional players, made even more sensitive by the forthcoming European elections.

On 6 July 1982, the Members of the European Parliament adopt a resolution on the European Parliament’s guidelines concerning the reform of the treaties and the creation of a European union by 258 votes to 37, with 21 abstentions. Inspired by the work of Altiero Spinelli, the resolution follows the decision of 9 July 1981 to launch a new political and legal process with a view to the establishment of a European union.

In a communication to the European Council of December 1982, the European Commission draws up a report detailing the problems associated with the enlargement of the European Communities to include Spain and Portugal and sets out proposals that are designed to speed up the integration of these two countries into the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 14 September 1983, the European Parliament adopts by a large majority a resolution on the substance of the preliminary draft Treaty on European Union.

On 14 February 1984, by a very large majority (237 votes to 31, with 43 abstentions), the European Parliament adopts the draft Treaty on European Union, also known as the ‘Spinelli draft’, which has the ultimate aim of establishing a federal European Union.

On 14 February 1984, the European Parliament adopts a resolution concerning the draft treaty establishing the European Union.

The European Council, held at Fontainebleau on 25 and 26 June 1984, decides on the changes to be made to the Decision of 21 April 1970 on own resources and agrees on a correction mechanism designed to resolve budgetary imbalances.

During the Dublin European Council of 3 and 4 December 1984, the Ad Hoc Committee on Institutional Affairs submits its interim report on institutional reform in the European Communities.

Table showing the names of the 11 members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Institutional Affairs.

In a report submitted on 29-30 March 1985, the Dooge Committee puts forward ideas for improving the operation of the Community system and proposes ways of enhancing European Political Cooperation (EPC). In particular, it calls on the Member States to demonstrate their common political will by formulating a genuine political entity: the European Union.

In his editorial of 21 March 1983, Emanuele Gazzo, Director of Agence Europe, analyses the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Institutional Affairs and comments on the reactions prompted by the publication of this text.

On 26 June 1985, Irish MPs analyse the proposals contained in the report of the Dooge Committee regarding improvement of the operation of the Community system and enhancement of European Political Cooperation (EPC).

Italian Euro-MP, Altiero Spinelli, photographed in 1984 in front of the ‘Crocodile' restaurant in Strasbourg where the foundations were first laid for a parliamentary project in favour of a federal Europe.