Georges Pompidou and Edward Heath marked a milestone in the centuries-old relationship between France and the United Kingdom, one shaped by rivalries and mutual stereotypes but also strategic convergence, especially in times of crisis. They formed a ‘Franco-British couple’ at a time when the French president was assessing the transformation of the global economic and monetary system, and when the British Prime Minister was successfully convincing both Parliament and public opinion of the opportunity offered by the EEC for Britain to anchor itself within Europe.
The fiftieth anniversary of Georges Pompidou’s death and Edward Heath’s departure from Downing Street, and the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale (2024), naturally invite us to reflect on this historical turning point and its long-term consequences, particularly in light of archival materials recently made available at the French National Archives and the Weston Library in Oxford, which open up broad avenues for research.
This volume brings together several articles by French and British specialists covering the various dimensions of the Franco-British relationship in Europe—from strategic cooperation to culture—while highlighting the evolution of the United Kingdom’s political and economic situation.
Edited by:
Olivier Sibre
Imprint: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Country of Publication: Switzerland
Edition: New edition
Volume: 15
Dimensions:
Height: 210mm,
Width: 148mm,
Spine: 12mm
Weight: 300g
ISBN: 9783034362405
ISBN 10: 3034362404
Series: Georges Pompidou – Études
Pages: 226
Publication Date: 24 February 2026
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Table of contents List of Figures....................................................................................................................................................3 Introduction......................................................................................................................................................4 Olivier Sibre ....................................................................................................................................................4 Preliminary Remarks.......................................................................................................................................6 Guillaume Lacroix..........................................................................................................................................6 The Anglo-French Sibling Rivalry: From a Family Affair to the Pompidou-Heath Cooperation.......7 Beatrice Heuser...............................................................................................................................................7 Into the European Community at Last: Reinventing Britain as a European Power?..........................17 Anne Deighton.............................................................................................................................................17 Turning the Tables: General de Gaulle’s Vetoes of Britain’s Applications to Join the EEC ................27 Agnès Tachin.................................................................................................................................................27 The Long Shadow of the Veto: Edward Heath, Georges Pompidou and the May 1971 Paris Summit ................................................................................................................................................................................36 Daniel Furby .................................................................................................................................................36 Fighting the ‘Economic War’: Georges Pompidou, Edward Heath and Industrial Policy at the End of the ‘Glorious Thirty’ (1969–1974) .................................................................................................................46 Cesare Vagge..................................................................................................................................................58 Competition and Credit Control (CCC).....................................................................................................56 Marie-Claude Esposito.................................................................................................................................56 Enoch Powell’s Stance on Europe in the Heath Years: The Development of Euroscepticism Within the Conservative Party Avant la Lettre........................................................................................................64 Stéphane Porion ...........................................................................................................................................64 Rivalling the French?: The Impact and Effectiveness of British European Policymaking, 1973–199076 Piers Ludlow.................................................................................................................................................76 Georges Pompidou and the Anglo-American Plot Behind the Creation of a ‘Monument’ for the Modernisation of France ...............................................................................................................................84 Boris Hamzeian ............................................................................................................................................84 Preserving the Archives of the Presidents of the French Republic: The Example of Georges Pompidou ........................................................................................................................................................92 Bénédicte Fichet ...........................................................................................................................................92 Appendix........................................................................................................................................................104 The Edward Heath archives conserved at the Bodleian Library...........................................................104 Testimony by Juliet Campbell....................................................................................................................106 Notes on Contributors.................................................................................................................................107
The historian (agrégé, PhD Sorbonne) Olivier Sibre specializes in international relations, religion, and politics, and has written extensively on the Holy See, East Asia, and Europe. He is director of studies and Research at the Institut Georges Pompidou and seminar lecturer in international relations at Sorbonne University, as well as a member of SIRICE.
