On 9 May 1950, France launched a revolutionary plan for supranational cooperation in Western Europe. The Netherlands was taken completely by surprise. In the decades that followed, European integration moved forward at an unprecedented pace, taking the Netherlands with it. Geography and the post-war world seemed to leave the country no other choice. European integration forced - and is still forcing - the Netherlands on a far-reaching 'journey to the continent'.For the Netherlands, European integration represents a difficult journey to a new old world that often seems far off. How has that journey progressed so far? Why did the Netherlands join the common European market and currency from the very beginning? Was this course inevitable? And where has it brought the country?Using new, international source material, The Netherlands and European Integration digs deeply into the history of the Netherlands in Europe - a subject that is today more topical than ever.

Mathieu Segers (1976) is Professor of Contemporary European History and European Integration at Maastricht University and Dean of University College Maastricht. He has edited numerous books and volumes on European integration - most recently amongst others Re:Thinking Europe (AUP, 2016) and a special issue on Social Market Europe of Journal of Common Market Studies (2019) - and published in numerous journals, including The International History Review, Journal of European Integration History, Contemporary European History, Journal of Cold War Studies, and Journal of Common Market Studies.Mathieu Segers (1976) is Professor of Contemporary European History and European Integration at Maastricht University and Dean of University College Maastricht. He has edited numerous books and volumes on European integration - most recently amongst others Re:Thinking Europe (AUP, 2016) and a special issue on Social Market Europe of Journal of Common Market Studies (2019) - and published in numerous journals, including The International History Review, Journal of European Integration History, Contemporary European History, Journal of Cold War Studies, and Journal of Common Market Studies.

Prologue: Dinner in Laeken (1989) Kohl's great leap forwardThe surgeons of French RealpolitiekExploiting Franco-German reconciliationThe Netherlands between Anglo-Saxons and TeutonsJourney to the continent1 American concepts: building Europe (1947-1949)Eternal division2 Magical realism (1949-1951)Putting the country's mental stability to the testThe Germany memorandumAtlantis and bloc formation within the Western blocThe Netherlands taken by surpriseManufacturing a tranquillizer3 The Beyen Plan (1951-1954)The letter from 'the Ten'Red versus CatholicFrom EuropeA game for insiders4 Around Cologne cathedral (1954-1957)Adenauer's AbendlandCoordination through Europe's backchannelsWith the Benelux to SicilyRebirth as a marketThe latest trendThe Treaties of Rome5 A Europe of conspiracies (1957-1968)Faust in ParisRhetoric and intrigueMarket expansion by a gentleman farmerSilence is golden6 At home in the Basel biotope (1968-1974)American dreamsAn alternative loan circuitHoltrop's logicMasters of the interim stage7 Sturm und Drang (1974-1982)Late conversionThe monetary trilemmaFailure for DuisenbergThe stick of free movement of capital8 The hand of French-German friendship (1982-1989)A community united by bloodCelebrating success and earning moneyWork in progressThe Delors report9 After Strasbourg: a different party than expected (1989-1992)Piet's work of artThe consequences10 European realities: defining Europe after the Cold WarThe direction of integrationThe 1990s and afterThe tragedy of Maastricht and AmsterdamA rediscoveryEpilogue: the call of CalypsoNotesSources and referencesAbbreviationsAcknowledgementsIndex of namesSubject index