ABSTRACT
Portugal experienced a dictatorship from 1932 to 1974. During this time the regime was profoundly nationalistic and was strongly committed to the Portuguese African empire. Spain applied for European Community membership on 28 July 1977. It had been excluded from consideration because of the nature of its regime, and through having been too close to the Axis powers. It was also excluded from the UN, the Marshall Plan, the OEEC, the Council of Europe and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The Greek accession in January 1981 marked the beginning of the ‘Mediterranean’ or southern enlargement. Just as Spaniards had been influential in key areas in 1990–1991, in the 1996–1997 Inter-governmental Conference they played an even more important role, given that Carlos Westendorp was Chair of the Reflexion Group. In the mid- and late-1990s the Spanish continued to emphasise the importance of cohesion and, related to this, the principles of ‘additionality of resources’ and ‘sufficient means’.
