This chapter begins with an examination of the extent to which the ideas and interests of national elites in France and Germany may have influenced the negotiations and the contents of the Treaty which created the European Economic Community. It describes briefly the principal landmarks of the negotiations, from their beginnings in the summer of 1955 to the signing of the two Treaties of Rome on March 25, 1957. The chapter examines the extent to which the non-governmental elites were in direct contact with the two governments and their negotiators. It also examines the decision-making process within the French and German governments. The degree to which governmental negotiators consulted interest groups with respect to the negotiation of the Treaty of Rome is extraordinarily difficult to determine. Germany had a coalition government, but it was dominated by the Christlich Demokratische Union (CDU)/ Christlich Soziale Union (CSU) alliance.