I processi d’integrazione e cooperazione in Europa : origini, relazioni, interdipendenza

Abstract

The chapter focuses on the connections between the two processes of integration/cooperation in post-‘45 Europe, of which the European Community and the Comecon constituted the most institutionalised features. The analysis deals with mutual perceptions, indirect influences, and direct relations between the two “communities”. The chapter argues that the Cold War, which had almost secluded the EC and Comecon away from each other, lost its predominant influence over time. Since the late 1960s, evolution of communist ideology, economic reforms in the socialist countries, and the growing global economic interdependence all played an important role in allowing for direct influences and even relations between the two European integration processes. Additionally, Western European integration itself became a powerful force able to modify Comecon countries’ perceptions and actions, setting intra-European relations on a non-Cold War-related path.