In this interview, Paul Collowald, former journalist for the daily newspaper Le Nouvel Alsacien and former correspondent for European affairs for the daily newspaper Le Monde in Alsace, explains the origins of his European commitment after the Second World War.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, who joined the Joint Press and Information Service of the European Communities in Luxembourg in April 1958, explains how he was called to Brussels in 1959 by Robert Marjolin, Vice-President of the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC), to participate in the establishment of its Press Service, and considers the main stages of his career in this institution.

In this interview, the former French journalist, Paul Collowald, who joined the Joint Press and Information Service of the European Communities in Luxembourg in April 1958, describes the nature of his role, in particular among young people, in university and educational circles and with the press and European trade unions.

In an article published in the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique on 28 February 2008, on the 50th anniversary of the constituent meeting of the European Parliamentary Assembly, Paul Collowald, former correspondent for the French daily newspaper Le Monde in Strasbourg and former official of the Community institutions, describes the first steps of the Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the European Communities.

In an article published in the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique on 3 December 1999, on the eve of the Helsinki European Council and 30 years after the Hague Summit, Paul Collowald, former Deputy Spokesman at the European Commission, comments on the association of young people with the development of the European integration process.

On 17 October 1996, the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort reports on a lecture given by Paul Collowald, former Director in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Press and Information, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Universal Movement for a World Confederation.

On 2 June 1994, in an article published in the daily newspaper La Cité, Paul Collowald, former Deputy Spokesman at the European Commission, describes the difficult relationship between the European Union and the media.

On 14 March 1991, in an article published in the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique, Paul Collowald, former Deputy Spokesman at the European Commission, looks at the use of the expression ‘common home’ since it was first coined by the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1951.

In an article published in the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique on 29 September 1983, following the Stuttgart European Council and on the 20th anniversary of Robert Schuman’s death, Paul Collowald, former Director in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Press and Information, emphasises the essential role of the former French Foreign Minister for Europe.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former journalist on the daily newspaper Le Nouvel Alsacien and former European correspondent in Alsace for the daily newspaper Le Monde, describes the preparations for and the political and economic implications of the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950.

On 6 May 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the ninth and final draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 9 May 1950, the declaration made in the salon de l'Horloge at the French Foreign Ministry by the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, marks the decisive starting point for European integration.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former journalist on the daily newspaper Le Nouvel Alsacien and former European correspondent in Alsace for the daily newspaper Le Monde, describes the attitude of the people of Strasbourg towards the establishment of the Council of Europe in their city, with particular reference to the first sitting of the Consultative Assembly in the main lecture hall of the University on 10 August 1949.

On 5 May 1949, in London, ten countries sign the Statute of the Council of Europe which aims to establish European cooperation in the political, economic, social, cultural, scientific, legal and administrative spheres. The Statute enters into force on 3 August 1949.

On 5 May 1949 in St James's Palace, London, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty establishing the Council of Europe.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former journalist for the daily newspaper Le Nouvel Alsacien and former correspondent for European affairs for the daily newspaper Le Monde in Alsace, describes the historical context in which the plan for a European Defence Community (EDC) was conceived and considers the vote in the French National Assembly against the ratification of the Treaty establishing the EDC.

On 24 October 1950, René Pleven, President of the French Council of Ministers and former National Defence Minister, proposes to the French National Assembly the establishment of a European army in order to avoid German rearmament as sought by the United States.

For Pierre Mendès France, President of the Council and French Minister for Foreign Affairs, the die has already been cast several days before the French National Assembly votes to reject the EDC Treaty.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former Joint Spokesman of the European Commission, outlines the various stages of the establishment of the European Commission’s Press Service.

In this interview, Jacques-René Rabier, Director of the Information Service of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) from 1953 to 1958 and Director-General of the Press and Information Service of the European Communities from 1958 to 1973, describes the nature of the policy of information on the European Communities’ activities.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former member of the Press Service of the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC), describes the attitude of Walter Hallstein and the Commission of which he was President during the ‘empty chair' political crisis in 1965.

From 30 June 1965 to 29 January 1966, in disagreement with the Commission of the European Communities on the financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP), France’s representatives refuse to attend any intergovernmental meetings of the Community bodies in Brussels.

The Extraordinary EEC Council of Ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on 17 and 18 and on 28 and 29 January 1966, heeds France's calls for the implementation of the majority voting rule and the role of the European Commission. The ‘Luxembourg Compromise' reached by the Council brings to an end the ‘empty chair crisis' prevailing since 30 June 1965.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former Deputy Spokesman for the European Commission, discusses the work of Raymond Barre, Vice-President of the Commission with special responsibility for Economic and Monetary Affairs from 1967 to 1972.

On 12 February 1969, the European Commission presents a memorandum to the Council on the coordination of economic policies and on monetary cooperation within the Community. The Council adopts the memorandum, known as the Barre Plan, on 17 July 1969.

In an RTL broadcast aired on 8 October 1970, the European Commission Vice-President and renowned professor of economics, Raymond Barre, outlines the proposals for economic and monetary union set out in the Werner Report.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, then Head of the Private Office of Pierre Pflimlin, President of the European Parliament, describes the discreet but significant role played by Pierre Pflimlin from 1984 to 1987 as President of the European Parliament and, in particular, his contribution to the realisation of the Parliament's budgetary powers when the Community budget was being finally adopted.