Germany and France as a driving force for European integration in the 1970s and 1980s

Abstract

This article aims to explain the importance of French-German cooperation in the process of European integration in the 1970s and 1980s. To this end, this article explains how France and Germany became both pillars of European integration from the December 1969 Hague Summit, the starting point for overcoming the stagnation of European integration in the 1960s, to the signing of the European Single Act in 1986. Chapter II will describe important aspects of French-German cooperation in European integration from the Hague Summit in 1969 to the Paris Summit in 1974. Chapters III and IV will explain the leading role of French-German bilateral ties in European integration in the process of establishing the European Monetary System in 1979 and solving the British Budgetary Question in the early 1980s.