Assignment during my study in the two-year master programme in EU studies organized by the Centre international de formation europenne in cooperation

with the Jean Monnet Chair of the University of Cologne (info: http://www.eu-online-academy.org/)

Assignment for the course History of European Integration of Prof. Hartmut Marhold Topic 6. Have a look on one of the main internet archive (Leiden, CVCE, Touteleurope), choose one relevant source (speech, text) and replace it in its historical context.

Christina Kontaxi, 9/12/2009. Source chosen from Centre d'information sur l'Europe / http://www.touteleurope.fr 1
er

Janvier 1980: La Grce devient membre de Communauts europennes / Associe aux

Communauts depuis 1961, la Grce stait retrouve isole diplomatiquement a la suite du coup dEtat militaire de 1967. En 1974, la chute du rgime des colonels et le retour la dmocratie rapprochent la Rpublique hellnique de lEurope occidentale. La Grce dpose sa candidature en 1975, avant de devenir, en 1981, le dixime membre des Communauts europennes. Greece on the road to European Integration (1959-1981) Greece became the tenth Member State of the European Community on 1 January 1981, starting on 8 June 1959 with the association process with the Community when it became the first state to apply in accordance with the Article 238 of the Treaty of Rome. According to this article The Community may conclude with one or more States or international organizations agreements establishing an association involving reciprocal rights and obligations, common action and special procedures. By this article only a brief description of association is given leaving actually open the actual content and purpose of association (Phinnemore D., 1999). One year later, on 9 July 1961, Greece and the European Economic Community (EEC) signed an Association Agreement (Athens Agreement) that provided the possibility for future accession (pictures 1 & 2). At the same time, an agreement on the financial protocol annexed to this Association Agreement was signed (JOCE, 1963 p.352-353). With this, Greece became the first European State to sign an Association Agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC). According to Article 2 the agreement establishing an association between the EEC and Greece contained (JOCE, 1963 pp. 296-313): a) The establishment of a customs union;

b) The development of actions common by the Parts and the harmonization of their policies in the fields envisaged to the agreement; c) The availability of the Hellenic economy, within the framework of the financial protocol annexed to the agreement, of resources intended to facilitate its accelerated development. The Agreement would come into force at the date of the notification carried out by the government (of a Member State) which will proceed the last to the Secretary of the Council of the European Communities stating the achievement of the procedures necessary for the entry into force of this agreement (Article 6 - JOCE, 1963 pp.350-351 & Article 3 - JOCE, 1963 pp.352-353). The Association Agreement came into force in 1 November 1962 and EEC Commission President Walter Hallstein in his statement concerning the important role which Greece plays within Europe noted The way is now open for a move in due course from association to full membership (Bulletin of the European Economic Community, 1962), ratifying Article 72 of the Agreement (JOCE, 1963 pp. 296-313). Greece, as an Associate Member of the Community, should succeed in a customs union at the end of a 22year transitional period and in the free movement of persons, services and capital at the end of a 12year period. No more than 5 years later, on 21 April 1967 the power was taken by the military in a period known as the regime of the colonels or junta, who ruled Greece until 1974. On 2 June 1967, the Association Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and Greece was put in suspension, pending for the return of democracy in Greece (JOCE, 1967 pp. 2058). In January 1975 the junta members were formally arrested and on 12 June 1975, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek Prime Minister, sends Greece's applications for accession to the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) and the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) to the President-in-Office of the Council of the European Communities. On 24 June 1975, the Council of the European Communities asked the Commission to submit its opinion on the Greek application for membership of the EEC, the ECSC and the Euratom, according to Articles 237, 98 and 205 of the respective Treaties. Some months later (17-21 September 1975), the French Prime Minister V. Giscard dEstaing on his visit in Greece he is deified by the Greeks (Picture 3) as a precursor of the upcoming accession. On 29 January 1976, the Commission released its detailed opinion in a report to the Council (Bulletin of the European Communities, 1976) pointing the need for the establishment of a pre-accession / transitional period. Without taking any action on the Commissions proposal the Council of Ministers of the nine member states approved Greeces application on 9 February 1976. Accession negotiations began officially on 27 July 1976, were

completed on 23 May 1979 and the Treaty of Accession was signed on 28 May 1979 in Athens (Pictures 4 & 5). The Greek Parliament ratified the Act of Accession on 7 July 1979 and not on the 28 June 1979 as it is noted on the web site of European Navigator of the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l' Europe. The Act of Accession was ratified by Law 945/1979 (Picture 6). The accession of Greece in the nowadays European Union is linked mainly with Konstantinos Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece in 1961 when the Association Agreement was signed, in 1975 when Greece sent applications for accession in EEC, ECSC and Euratom and in 1979 on the signature of the Treaty of Accession. It is worthwhile mentioning that Konstantinos Karamanlis resigned from the premiership on 17 June 1963, was defeated on the national elections on 3 November 1963 and spent the following 11 years until 1974 in Paris. Karamanlis strongest political opponent, Papandreou was against the accession, stating that EEC regional policy is a myth, the states economical problems wouldnt find automatically solution within the Communities institutional framework and since Greeces products already circulate freely in the Community market there should be hardly any future improvement (Papandreou A. 1979). Papandreou in 1979 said that the choice of the New Democracy party (c.c. Karamanlis party) didnt engage the future of the country. This choice, in spite of its importance and the risk to deeply influence all the sectors of our economic life, was made without any information and without the approval of the Greek people he said (Papandreou A. 1979). He concluded by saying that his party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, better known as PASOK, would conduct a referendum on the adhesion of the country in EEC. Greece became the tenth Member State of the European Community on 1 January 1981. Papandreou won on 18 October 1981 the national elections; he became a prime minister and formulated the first socialist government in Greece's history. The Greek membership in the European Economic Community continued

Picture 1: 9 July 1961, Family photo, front row (from left to right): Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece - Ludwig Erhard, Minister of Economics of the Federal Republic of Germany - Konstantinos Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece - Maurice Couve de Murville, French Minister of Foreign Affairs - Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs - Emilio Colombo, Italian Minister of Industry & Commerce.

Picture 2: Article on the signature of the association agreement between Greece and the EEC / Apogevmatini Newspaper 10 July 1961.

Picture 3: Visit of the French Prime Minister V. Giscard dEstaing in Greece (17-21 September 1975), in the photo with the Greek Prime Minister K. Karamanlis.

Picture 4: Prime Minister of Greece K. Karamanlis (in the middle), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece G. Rallis (left) & Minister responsible for EC affairs of Greece G. Kontogiorgis (right) in Athens signing the Treaty of Accession (28 May 1979).

Picture 5: Family photo on the day of the signing of the Treaty of Accession (28 May 1979). On the front row in the middle French Prime Minister V. Giscard dEstaing and Prime Minister of Greece K. Karamanlis.

Picture 6: Ratification of the Act of Accession by the Greek Parliament on the 7 July 1979 Law 945/1979 (Greek Government Gazette 170//27-07-1979).

References Bulletin of the European Economic Community, 1962. Statement by Walter Hallstein (1 November 1962), No 12, p. 15. Bulletin of the European Communities, 1976. Opinion on Greek application for membership (transmitted to the Council by the Commission on 29 January 1976), No Supplement 2/1976, pp. 715. Centre d'information sur l'Europe / http://www.touteleurope.fr/ European Navigator / Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe : http://www.ena.lu/ (Historical Events 1980-1986 Enlargement to the south Second Enlargement: Greece) Journal officiel des Communauts europennes (JOCE), 18.02.1963. Accord crant une association entre la Communaut conomique europenne et la Grce (9 juillet 1961), No 26, pp. 296-313. Journal officiel des Communauts europennes (JOCE), 18.02.1963. Accord relatif aux mesures prendre et aux procdures suivre pour l'application de l'accord crant une association entre la Communaut conomique europenne et la Grce (9 juillet 1961), No 26, pp. 350-351. Journal officiel des Communauts europennes (JOCE), 18.02.1963. Accord relatif au protocole financier annex l'accord crant une association entre la Communaut conomique europenne et la Grce (9 juillet 1961), No 26, pp. 352-353. Journal officiel des Communauts europennes (JOCE), 02.06.1967. Parlement europen, "Rsolution sur l'association entre la C.E.E. et la Grce (2 juin 1967)", No C 103, pp. 2058. Papandreou A., 1979. La position du P.A.S.O.K., in L'Europe en formation. Aot-Octobre 1979, No 233 (numro spcial), pp. 47-50. Phinnemore D., 1999. Association, stepping-stone or alternative to EU membership?, Sheffield Academic Press Ltd, England ISBN 1-84127-000-8 , p.21. Pictures 1 & 2: Konstantinos G. Karamanlis Foundation - Anastasios Kanellopoulos Collection (with reference principally to Panagiotis Kanellopoulos): http://www.ikk.gr/site/index.html Pictures 3, 4 & 5: Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs Greece in the world http://www.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/Articles/el-GR/01032007_L1838.htm Picture 6: National Printing House of the Hellenic Republic http://www.et.gr/