ABSTRACT
Officials of 34 countries (Monaco joined later) met at Dipoli outside Helsinki for preparatory talks. The nine members of the European Community largely took over from Nato as drivers of the Western agenda, shaping their own view of European security. Initially planned as an ambassadors’ “tea party” to assess the feasibility of a security conference, the meeting soon found itself negotiating issues of substance that later formed the basis of the Final Act. This was because Western negotiators were determined to ensure that the Soviet Union did not get away with cloudy generalities but discussed practical improvements to life in divided Europe. Agreement on a full conference was reached in June 1973 with a detailed agenda that had pre-negotiated much of the Final Act.
