In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former State Secretary to the Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and the Budget with special responsibility for Consumer Affairs (1983–1984), explains why she represented France on the Internal Market Council, a role which brought her into contact with European issues for the first time.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former State Secretary to the Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and the Budget with special responsibility for Consumer Affairs, emphasises the quality of the European officials with whom she worked, in particular Émile Noël, former Secretary-General of the Commission of the European Communities.

On 20 November 1984, Émile Noël, Secretary-General of the Commission of the European Communities, gives a lecture to the Royal Institute for International Relations (IRRI), in Brussels, in which he emphasises the need to give a new impetus to the European integration process, despite economic and political difficulties.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former French Junior Minister for European Affairs, describes the issues and difficulties surrounding the implementation of the agreement signed in Schengen, Luxembourg, on 14 June 1985 by the representatives of Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Luxembourg and the Netherlands concerning the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders.

On 14 June 1985, in Schengen (Luxembourg), France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the Benelux countries sign the Schengen Agreement on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders.

On 14 June 1985, Robert Goebbels, Luxembourg Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs, signs the agreement on the gradual abolition of checks at the common borders between Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Luxembourg and the Netherlands, on board the cruise ship ‘Princesse Marie-Astrid', moored at Schengen, Luxembourg.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former French Junior Minister for European Affairs, describes the atmosphere and proceedings at the Council of the European Union held in Milan on 28 and 29 June 1985, with particular regard to the decision taken by the Ten, after strong pressure had been exerted by the Italian Presidency, to convene an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to amend and supplement the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 2 July 1985, following the Milan European Council, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the Ten's disagreement on the future of the institutions of the European Community with a view to its development into a European Union.

On 29 June 1985, the conclusions of the Milan European Council set out the economic, political and institutional challenges facing Europe in the years ahead.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former French Junior Minister for European Affairs, describes the workings of French diplomacy in terms of European issues for the period 1984–1986.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former French Junior Minister for European Affairs, describes the stance taken by France and the implications of the final phase, from 1984 to 1985, of the negotiations for the accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Communities.

‘European Communities — Welcome to a united Europe!' In 1985, German cartoonist, Hanel, illustrates Spain and Portugal's accession to the European Communities which are divided and subject to internal disputes.

Mário Soares, Portuguese Prime Minister, shakes hands with the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, during the official signing of Portugal’s Treaty of Accession to the European Communities on 12 June 1985 in Lisbon.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former State Secretary to the French Minister for Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for European Affairs, explains why 1985 was considered a ‘good year’. She particularly refers to the end of the British crisis, the arrival of Jacques Delors at the Commission, the end of the negotiations for the accession of Spain and Portugal, the adoption of the principle of the mutual recognition of standards and the convening of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which led the Twelve to conclude the Single European Act (SEA) in 1985–1986.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former French Junior Minister for European Affairs, describes the implications of and proceedings at the Luxembourg European Council, held on 2 and 3 December 1985, and, in particular, how the Heads of State or Government of the Ten finally succeeded in reviving the negotiations of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) which, in 1985 and 1986, resulted in the Twelve concluding the Single European Act (SEA).

On 2 and 3 December 1985, the Heads of State or Government of the Ten agree on a revision of the Treaty creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and approve the Single European Act.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former French Junior Minister for European Affairs and former Secretary General of the Council of Europe, considers the European commitment of François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic from 1981 to 1995.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former Secretary General of the Council of Europe, describes this institution's political revival following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the democratisation of the countries of the former Communist bloc.

On 1 October 1992, Catherine Lalumière, French Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, gives a progress report on its new pan-European imperatives and on its new activities.

Interactive map showing the 10 founding members of the Council of Europe in 1949, as well as the subsequent accessions that determined the present composition of the organisation.

In this personal account, Bronislaw Geremek, Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 2000, outlines the changing role and influence of the Council of Europe.

In this interview, Catherine Lalumière, former Member of the European Parliament and former alternate member of the Convention on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, outlines the working methods used in 1999 and 2000 by the members of the Convention and expresses her satisfaction with the final outcome.

On 1 May 2001, Catherine Lalumière, substitute member of the European Parliament Delegation to the Convention responsible for drawing up the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, explains why she believes that the Charter should not remain a declaration of political intent but, on the contrary, should be integrated into the Community treaties, thereby securing legal credibility for it.

Table listing the members of the Convention responsible for drafting the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights, chaired by Roman Herzog, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).