First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This volume analyzes French and German diplomacy during the intergovernmental conferences (IGCs) on economic and monetary union (EMU) and political union, and the subsequent national treaty ratification process in each country. It uses various approaches to explore the domestic-international interactions predominant during internal bargaining in Paris and Bonn, and external negotiations at different levels among working groups, personal representatives, ministers and political leaders in Brussels.

As the EU further enlarges and deepens through rounds of treaty reforms, it is imperative to understand the dynamics of the major decisions, or big bangs, in the integration process. This book will present the first comprehensive and comparative analysis of the major rounds of treaty reform over the past two decades, in an attempt to answer whether the path from the Single European Act in 1985 to the present Constitutional Treaty has been pushed by the Franco-German tandem, or has been the result of leadership provided by other actors such as the Commission or smaller member states.