European Union – Part Two – Reality Bites

European Union – Part Two – Reality Bites

From Origin Story by Podmasters

May 6, 2026 · 1h 9m · Season 9 · Episode 2

About this episode

This episode continues the exploration of the European Union's history, focusing on key figures and events that shaped its formation and challenges.

Welcome back to Origin Story and part two of the story of European union. Last time we left Europe in 1955, with Jean Monnet’s European Coal and Steel Community bringing European nations together without military force for the first time. We pick up the story with another game-changing Europhile, the Belgian politician Paul-Henri Spaak. He convenes the Messina Conference on the “common market”, which leads in 1957 to the Treaty of Rome and the birth of the European Economic Community. Six nations come together “to lay the foundations of an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe”. This is a period of both unprecedented economic prosperity and maddening political inertia, as France’s nationalist president Charles de Gaulle slams on the brakes, drives everyone to distraction, and says a furious “Non!” to UK membership. Although Britain has realised at last that it belongs in Europe, it takes a decade of frustration before prime minister Edward Heath can seal the deal. A whopping victory for “Yes” in the 1975 referendum seems like the last word on the matter, but there’s trouble ahead — and not just in Britain. By 1980, the EEC has added only three new member states and made…

Topics covered

  • European Union
  • history
  • politics
  • economic prosperity
  • membership
  • decision-making

Keywords

  • European Union
  • EEC
  • Treaty of Rome
  • Paul-Henri Spaak
  • Charles de Gaulle
  • Edward Heath
  • Margaret Thatcher
  • economic prosperity
  • political inertia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: European Economic Community, EEC

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