The origins and development of European integration. A reader and commentary

The origins and development of European integration: a reader and commentary:

This study aims to convey a sense of the vitality of the debate surrounding European integration. A wide range of texts, including official declarations, draft treaties, internal memoranda, parliamentary speeches, polemics and legal judgements have been selected to illustrate the passion and uncertainty of the debate surrounding the issue. Coverage extends from the ideas of European federalists at the end of the First World War, through to the origins and development of the Marshall Plan, Comecon, the Council of Europe, the European Communities, NATO and the WEU, the Warsaw Pact and the OSCE. The documents included have been selected to illustrate the process of integration with preference being given to the debate in the larger states, notably Britain, France, Germany and the role of the United States, both because their influence has sometimes been greater than their size would suggest and because of the intrinsic interest of the debate within them.

The documents presented in each chapter are preceded by a comprehensive overview of the complex process of integration, assessing developments in both east and west and setting them in their historical context. The chapters may be read independently of the documents themselves.