Cooperation among western European states in the period after World War II has followed two paths. A traditional intergovernmental path demanding no transfer of formal national sovereignty and the integration path aiming at creating 'an ever closer union' (as stated in the EEC treaty of 1957) involving formal surrender of state power to common European institutions.
Focusing on the period 1945-1960 this book traces the ramifications of early post-war western European cooperation and integration in an attempt to explain the motives regulating the choice between the alternatives. Within this general framework a substantial part of the contributions deals with the European dilemmas of Denmark; a renowned Euro-sceptic, who during this early post-war period took a more active and serious interest in the Franco-German-Benelux integration initiatives than is generally recognized.
