In his memoirs, Willy Brandt recalls the deadlock in the European Communities following the ‘empty chair’ crisis and the difficulty in progressing from economic integration to political integration. With regard to Europe, his first actions in 1968 as Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) were aimed at establishing an economic union and at merging the executive bodies of the three Communities. Five years later, Brandt, who had become Chancellor in 1969, played a role in the establishment the European Council.