Frédérique Berrod, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director of the research federation ‘L’Europe en mutation’, and Maurice Carrez, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and member of the FARE research team (‘Frontières, acteurs et représentations de l’Europe XIXe–XXe siècle’), set out the aims of the conference ‘The Franco-German duo as seen by third states since 1963’.

Sylvain Schirmann, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director of the Institute of Political Studies, introduces the academic issues that will be raised at the conference ‘The Franco-German duo as seen by third states since 1963’.

In the first working session of the conference ‘The Franco-German duo as seen by third states since 1963’, chaired by Maurice Carrez (Professor at the University of Strasbourg and member of the FARE research team), Antoine Fleury (Emeritus Professor at the University of Geneva) describes the Swiss stance on Franco-German relations in the 1960s. Vincent Dujardin (Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve) discusses Belgium’s position between France and Germany from 1956 to 1973. Finally, Elena Danescu (Researcher at the CVCE) looks at relations between Pierre Werner and the Franco-German duo in the context of European integration in the 1970s.

In the second working session of the conference ‘The Franco-German duo as seen by third states since 1963’, chaired by Jean-François Eck (Emeritus Professor of Contemporary History at Charles de Gaulle–Lille 3 University), Sylvain Schirmann (Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director of the Institute of Political Studies) describes relations between Paris and Bonn in the early 1980s and the influence of the other European states at that time. Martial Libera (Senior Lecturer in Contemporary History at the University of Strasbourg) then sets out the guidelines of the communication by Maria Fernanda Rollo (Professor in the Contemporary History Department at the New University of Lisbon) on Portugal, Europe and Franco-German entente.

In the third working session of the conference ‘The Franco-German duo as seen by third states since 1963’, chaired by Jean-Christophe Romer (University of Strasbourg), Josef Laptos (Pedagogical University of Cracow) describes Poland’s changing attitude towards the Élysée Treaty, from the Warsaw Pact to the Weimar Triangle. Gergely Fejérdy (University of Budapest) sets out Hungary’s view of the Franco-German duo around the year 1989. To close, Nicolae Păun (Babes-Bolyai University, Romania) discusses the Élysée Treaty and how East–West relations have been structured through relations within the European Communities.

Sylvain Schirmann, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and Director of the Institute of Political Studies, presents the conclusions of the conference ‘The Franco-German duo as seen by third states since 1963’.