The relance Européenne and the nuclear dimension of Franco-German rapprochement

Abstract

After the breakdown of negotiations in October of 1956, deadlock threatened European consultations on the Common Market and the European Atomic Energy Community, commonly known as EURATOM. At the same time, international tensions were increasing tremendously because of the Suez Crisis. This tense situation, notwithstanding, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer decided to go ahead with a previously scheduled visit to his French counterpart, Guy Mollet. On November 6, during Adenauer’s stay in Paris, the outlines of a Franco-German compromise concerning the European Economic Community (EEC) and EURATOM were agreed upon. The Adenauer-Mollet agreement ushered in a series of Franco-German accords which finally cleared the way for the signing of the Treaties of Rome on March 25, 1957.