EC Library Guide on the history of the European Commission: Research

A selection of research publications on the Hallstein Commission

(in chronological order)

The European trade unions movement and the common agricultural policy (1958-1972): A first venture in a new research field

Fattmann, R. Journal of European integration history, 16 (2) 2010, page.45-58.

The Free and Christian trade unions of the six founding members of the EEC had been one of the motors of European Integration from its beginnings. The Hallstein Commission entertained close relations to the European Federations of free and Christian trade unions, which had been created immediately after the founding of the EEC.
The European Commissioners and the Empty Chair Crisis of 1965-66

Bajon, Philip, Journal of European integration history, 15 (2), 2009, pages 105-124.

In March 1965, the Commission of the European Economic Community presented an ambitious proposal package to the Council of ministers, which ultimately triggered the crisis of the (French) `empty chair' between July 1965 and January 1966.
Re-launching the EEC and the empty chair: neo-functionalists vs. federalists in the European Commission (1964-1965)

Warlouzet, Laurent, Journal of European integration history, 14 (1), 2008, pages 69-86.

Just before the Empty Chair crisis, in 1964-1965, a conflict occurred within the Commission between the French commissioner Robert Marjolin, who supported a cautious neo-functionalist strategy based on an economic and technocratic approach, and the German president Walter Hallstein, who launched a bold federalist offensive.
The EEC Commission: A new factor in international life

Hallstein, Walter, The International and comparative law quarterly, 14 (3), 1965, pages p.727-741.