the few organisations which had facilities to host politicians speaking different languages. Based in Strasbourg, its headquarters was a convenient location for the Common Assembly to hold its first sessions. However, accepting the technical facilities of the Council of Europe meant the European Coal and Steel Community was giving away some of its autonomous character. Therefore, Jean Monnet and the secretary generals from the national parliaments of France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy gathered resources and a plan was devised to prevent the realization of the Eden Plan. At the end, the ECSC and the Common Assembly obtained their own administrative facilities, which were a victory towards supranational model of integration.

The UK’s government did not persist with the Eden Plan. However, the paper shows that eventhe early 1950s, politicians in the ruling (Conservative) party did not agree on the role the UK should play in European integration. Those in the government in charge of European affairs saw Europe as a secondary issue in foreign affairs. They pursued ideas of “global” Britain and believed the Commonwealth should be at the center of British foreign policy. While the Eden Plan tried to steer European integration towards intergovernmentalism, the UK was not motivated enough to deal with the European Coal and Steel Community. This was a pity, as the evidence gathered in the paper show that within the supranational model, there was scope for negotiations.

Even though the UK tried to steer European integration towards intergovernmentalism in the early 1950s, at the end the UK decided to