He believed it would take an independent France to propose and lead the building of Europe. And France did lead. One mustn't forget that not only did France take the initiative to propose the Coal and Steel Community in 1950, but that it was France that proposed the Messina conference, which gave birth to the Common Market. And one cannot forget De Gaulle's invitation to Chancellor Adenauer to come to France, to pass in review a detachment of the French army, to be his guest at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises and, later, the General's decision to go to Germany, to speak in German at the officers' training school.

All that paved the way for the Franco-German Treaty of 1963. So all the important steps were taken at the initiative of France. No one can contest that. That said, initiative is one thing and hegemony is another. At each step along the way, our partners had the right to say no-and in many cases they did say no, or began by saying no.