The European Commission 1973-86 : History and memories of an institution

This volume covers the period between the enlargement of the European Communities to Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom on 1 January 1973, Greece on 1 January 1981 and Spain and Portugal on 1 January 1986, and the signature of the Single European Act in February 1986. After the hopes raised by the The Hague Summit of December 1969, this period is often portrayed as one of stagnation. However, this volume, based largely on hitherto unpublished sources, shows that despite the less propitious climate, the plans and ideas initiated in the 1970s would pave the way for a new momentum embodied in the Single European Act and the revival of the mid-1980s