ABSTRACT
After 1945, the case for some form of cooperation among West European states was strengthened by two developments: the Cold War and increasing economic interdependence among the major industrialised economies of the West. With the benefi t of hindsight it is easier (albeit not necessarily more accurate) to see European integration as a response to these circumstances. Yet to the decisionmakers at the time it remained unclear how European cooperation could be achieved, what institutional shape it would take, and what objectives it should serve. The political, strategic, and economic environment did not provide leaders with clear choices or guidance. Martin Hillenbrand points to the ‘peculiar mixture of idealism and economic hardheadedness’ that characterised the early supporters of European unity, as well as their ‘realistic adaptability in the face of reverses.’ 1 Throughout the six-decade quest for ever-closer union, national decision-makers have responded to their environment but also attempted to change it – often times unsuccessfully – according to their preferences. The task for the scholar and analyst is thus to ‘reconstruct the structure of choices and dilemmas actors faced,’ 2 in order to elucidate how the major milestones in European integration came about.
