Birthmarks of Europe. The origins of the European Community reconsidered

Abstract:

This book moves from the premise that whilst attitudes may change birthmarks remain with us for life, unless painfully and surgically removed - and so it is with political organisations. The European Union has been shaped by a specific set of ideas and values held by the founding fathers from France and Germany in the mid 1950s - the birthmarks.

The work is comprised of seven substantive chapters plus an introduction and a conclusion. Chapter two gives the history of European integration from 1945 to 1955. Chapter three then presents a detailed examination of the French position on the negotiations of the Treaty of Rome over the years 1955 to 1957 and chapter four does the same thing from the German aspect. Chapter five explores the internal negotiations of the two governments as they prepared for the Brussels conference. Chapter six addresses the negotiations themselves and determines the outcome with regard to the four issues under consideration in relation to the French and German government positions. The impact of those negotiations on the content of the Treaty are the subject of chapter seven which sets a framework for tracing the continuation of those ideas through the subsequent developments of the European Community. Chapter eight then applies that framework to later developments in the areas of agriculture, social policy and relations with former colonies. The concluding chapter draws on earlier chapters to present some theoretical findings.

The work will interest scholars and students of the history and politics of the European Union.