Posted on 23 May 2013
The inventory to the archival fonds of the Council of Ministers for the year 1968 (CM2/1968) has been finalised and is now available on the website of the Historical Archives of the European Union.
The Council of the European Union or Council of Ministers is part of the EU legislature and represents the executives of EU Member States. The Council developed from the first Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community of 1951. Under the Treaties of Rome in 1957, the Councils of the European Economic Community and of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) were added. With the Merger Treaty of 1967 the three bodies were combined into a single Council of Ministers.
The 1,240 files of 1968 which are now available for research reflect the Council’s work and its new positioning in the first year after the Merger Treaty. The files combine in one collection the minutes of the ministerial meetings of the European Economic Community, of the European Atomic Energy Community and of the Permanent Representatives. The materials also contain the documents of the Conferences of Government Representatives. Finally, administrative and financial documents from 1968 from the Secretariat of the Council are contained in the series.
The files shed light on various common policies of the European Communities, in particular the European Customs Union which was introduced in 1958 and the related commercial policies concerning the ‘Kennedy round’ or sixth session of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) trade negotiations held in 1964-1967 in Geneva, Switzerland with the final GATT agreement signed on 30 June 1967.
Having just passed the Empty Chair Crisis 1965 when the French government under General Charles de Gaulle boycotted all Council meetings bringing its work to a halt, the Council in 1968 had to deal with a series of issues relating to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and the structuring of the cereals, meat, wine, milk and dairy and poultry markets.
Also of interest are the energy issues emerging in the late 1960s and which were discussed in various Council meetings during 1968 particularly with regard to energy cooperation in natural gas and oil.
A dedicated file series on the European Atomic Energy Community deals with nuclear research budgeting and the future strategies and activities of Euratom and joint centers.
Social issues such as manpower, salaries, social security and professional training are also touched upon. A series on external relations with other international organisations completes this fonds.
Access the online inventory here