Le choix de la CEE par la France (1955-1969)

What is it about?

Why did the French government chose to support the European Economic Community despite many misgivings, notably from the French leader Charles de Gaulle? Based on a comprehensive examination of primary sources, this book explores the role of French leader both in Paris and in Brussels, within the European Commission. It deals with the French influence in the Treaty of Rome, in the framing of the Common Market, in the origins of competition policy, and in the failed attempt at developing a European planning and a European industrial policy. It focuses in particular on the difficult debates between the French and the British (Macmillan, Wilson), the Germans (Adenauer, Erhard) and the European Commission (Hallstein, von der Groeben).

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Why is it important?

French European policy has often been examined from a purely political point of view. By contrast, this book merges the political perspective with an economic and an institutional ones. It is indispensable to understand how Europe really worked.