The Attempt to Reform the CMEA in 1962—1963 in the Assessments of French Diplomats. According to the Materials of the Archive of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abstract

Based on materials from the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the majority of which have not been put into scientific circulation in Russian or foreign historiography, the article presents the view of French diplomats and experts on an attempt to reform the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in 1962—1963. The reform was to lead to the beginning of genuine economic integration in Eastern Europe. However, nationalistic and autarkic tendencies in some countries, primarily in Romania, led to the rejection of reforms in this period. Instead of developing the specialization of production, moving to unified planning and creating supranational bodies in the future, co-operation within the CMEA framework has taken the path of developing existing forms of cooperation, focusing on the development of bilateral trade between the countries of Eastern Europe. After the refusal to reform CMEA, the French began to write less and less about the prospects for genuine integration and ceased to perceive CMEA as a real competitor for the European Economic Community. As a result, the French authorities in the mid-1960s they counted on the development of bilateral cooperation with the CMEA countries, primarily the USSR and Romania, which contributed to the beginning of the détente.