ABSTRACT
The Report prepared on the earlier negotiations of 1961-63 recorded that, in the early stages, the Commission 'supplied the driving force necessary to get the negotiations going'. The Commission are an institution of the Community; they had to operate as a part of the Community, which was negotiating as a whole with us and the other candidates. The Member States, with much help from the Commission, had drawn up their negotiating position in the first six months of 1970. They were determined that the Commission, like any of themselves, should not be allowed to stray outside it. The position of Members of the Commission in relation to the Governments of the countries whose nationals they are is always rather a difficult one—especially for French Commissioners. The Commission felt a special responsibility for progress, and spent much time calculating the timing of a possible major intervention.
