‘When the rooster sings on the manure heap, everything stays as it is!’ On 9 September 1960, a few days after the press conference held by French President Charles de Gaulle during which he proposed European political cooperation on the basis of individual states rather than the current supranational system, the Swiss cartoonist Hans Geisen paints an ironic picture of the role the French President is hoping to play on the European stage. Charles de Gaulle, depicted as a rooster, seems to want to assume a leadership role and reign supreme over the poultry yard of European states. But the French proposal ultimately meets with little enthusiasm from France’s European partners.