In this Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre event, Julien Barbaroux, Maria Sole Barbieri, Nancy De Leo, Tom Logel and Thomas Soden will explore the EC’s evolving role in the international arena.
Structured in two panels, the seminar examines how trade disputes, political alignments, and cooperation frameworks influenced the Community’s global and regional relations. The first panel focuses on the Arab world and the Mediterranean, featuring presentations on Euro-Arab relations, transatlantic trade dispute, and the EC’s ties with Tunisia. The second panel turns to institutional and legal dimensions, revisiting Britain’s 1973 accession through the lens of Anglo-German diplomacy and assessing how EU competition law has shaped European industrial strategies over time.
Julien Barbaroux, PhD researcher and teaching assistant at Sorbonne-Université, will present his work on the 1986 trade dispute between the European Community and the United States over citrus fruits, highlighting its impact on EC Mediterranean policy, transatlantic trade relations, and the concept of Atlantic burden sharing.
Maria Sole Barbieri, PhD researcher at the EUI’s History Department and Simone Veil Fellow at Ludwig-Maximilian Universität in Munich, will explore the Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD) as a pivotal initiative in the European Community's efforts to establish a unified foreign policy framework in response to the 1973 energy crisis. Her broader PhD project investigates the failure of the European Community energy policy and the national energy policies of France and Italy in the aftermath of the oil shock of 1973.
Nancy De Leo, PhD researcher in History of International Relations at the University of Messina will present her research on the development of commercial relations and economic cooperation between the EEC and Tunisia from 1969 to 1987, focusing equally on the Tunisian point of view and France’s role in the Community.
Tom Logel, PhD candidate at the University of Strasbourg and visiting researcher at EUI’s History Department, will present his work on European industrial and competition policies through his study of how EU competition policy—particularly State Aid Law—has framed both national and Community-level industrial strategies from 1973 to 2020.
Thomas Soden, PhD candidate at the EUI’s History Department, will present his work on the enlargement of 1973 and Britain’s entry into the European Community by spotlighting the underexplored role of Anglo-German diplomacy. By reassessing the 1970–72 negotiations, it challenges the dominant Paris-centered narrative, offering a fresh perspective on trilateral dynamics between London, Bonn, and Paris during EC enlargement.
Aurora Hamm, PhD candidate at the EUI’s History Department, will chair the session.
The Alcide De Gasperi Centre supports researchers working in areas related to the history of European integration and cooperation. It coordinates networks of historians, facilitates the use of primary sources and increases public interest in the history of European integration.