ABSTRACT
In May 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev told the visiting Italian Prime Minister and President of the European Economic Community (EEC) Council of Ministers, Bettino Craxi, that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was ready to change its approach to the EEC and recognize it as both an economic and a political partner. After May 1985, two official discussions took place between the EEC (Common Market) and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in Geneva. The first was in late September 1986 and the second from March 18 to 20, 1987. The change that took place in 1985 in the Soviet approach to the EEC marked the beginning of a new period in relations between the EEC and the East European countries. The Soviets no longer objected to the conclusion of bilateral agreements between the EEC and individual member countries of the CMEA.
