ROMANIA AND THE COMMON MARKET ARGUMENT WITHIN THE CMEA INTEGRATION DEBATES, 1962-1963
ROMANIA AND THE COMMON MARKET ARGUMENT WITHIN THE CMEA INTEGRATION DEBATES, 1962-1963

Summary/Abstract: In 1962, in different bloc settings, Nikita Khrushchev was openly mentioning the economic accomplishments and superiority of the Common Market, and, more or less directly, prompted its bloc allies to accept Western European integration as a model for the socialist bloc’s reformation. Arguing against the proposed integration of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, Romania rejected the Soviet Common Market argument in strong terms. Drawing mainly from the archive of the Romanian Communist Party, this article focuses on Romania’s opposition to the Common Market argument as it was used in the early 1960s bloc debates on the reformation of the CMEA. There is generally very little information on Khrushchev’s 1962 Common Market-related proposal of CMEA reformation and on the reactions of his allies. Thus, corroborated by findings involving studies in other Eastern European archives, this article will help to create a better understanding of the CMEA debates on integration and will shed additional light on its general stance towards the European Economic Community.

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