Programming the Common market: The making and failure of a ‘dirigiste’ Europe (1957-1967)

This article contributes to the debate about the history of the political economy of the European Economic Community (EEC). It retraces the efforts, during the early years of the EEC, to implement a ‘European economic programming’, that is, a more ‘dirigiste’ type of government of the economy than is usually associated with European integration. Based on a variety of archives, it offers a new account of the making and failure of this project. It argues that, at the time, the idea of economic programming found many supporters, but its implementation largely failed for political as well as practical reasons. So doing, it also enlightens the role of economists during the early years of European integration