ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we examine the situation reached in the Community in 1968 and more especially 1969, up to and including the ‘summit’ at The Hague in December that year. We have seen that the customs union phase was completed ahead of schedule in mid-1968 – ironically, immediately following the ‘events’ of May-June in France, which revealed her economic weakness relative to the FRG and, in some eyes, came near to toppling de Gaulle’s regime. But, by common consent, the year 1969 too opened badly, with much of March and parts of April taken up with the consequences of and recriminations over the Soames affair.
