After the WWII the political leaders were convinced of the need to preserve national sovereignty and vital interests through an international outlook. The European principle of equality among states also guaranteed Luxembourg a role in decision-making and in the leadership of joint organizations. By giving up part of its sovereignty Luxembourg paradoxically actually strengthened its sovereignty.
Since then, Luxembourg continues to act as a mediator and a force for ideas in the EU, either as a MS or through some of its leaders. Since the time of Joseph Bech, Pierre Werner, Gaston Thorn, to Jacques Santer and Jean-Claude Juncker more recently, Luxembourg has proved itself to be a master in the art of political consensus and a rich source of ‘men of providence’ who have been able to find a way out of Europe’s successive impasses (the ‘battle of the seats’ of the Community institutions, UK accession, BLEU, Benelux)
The influential nature of its leadership gave Luxembourg a role in the European integration process that far outweighed the country’s socio-economic impact. Based on original archives (Werner family archives, which have been opened for the first time for research purposes), and on an extensive selection of interviews, this paper examines Luxembourg’s political action on European integration and its vital input to the European Integration process.
