On 21 October 1981, Pierre Werner, President of the Luxembourg Government, gives an address in Bonn in which he describes the past and future role of the European Council.

On 13 October 1981, the French Government submits to its partners and to the Community institutions a memorandum proposing the consolidation and development of common policies in order to support the European economic revival.

On 10 January 1981, in an article published in the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir, Jean Rey, former President of the European Commission, speculates on the operation of the Community institutions and the real or perceived limits of their political authority over the Member States of the European Communities.

‘Abandoned building site’. In September 1983, cartoonist Hans Geisen draws a bitter portrait of the process of European unification, which he contrasts with the success of the United States of America.