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The article focuses on the emerging need for the declaration of a European identity within European cooperation. The origins of the European declaration on a European identity of 14 december 1973 can be traced to contemporary transatlantic relations. The author has elaborated on that theme in other publications. In this article, however, origins of the declared European identity are identified within internal European cooperation since 1969.

When on 23 April 1973 Henry Kissinger gave a speech proposing a 'Year of Europe' he intended a renewal of the transatlantic charter. Interestingly this did not materialise; on the contrary, his speech stimulated the search for a European identity distinct from the United States. By the end of 1973, the nine members of the European communities formally declared their identity and ambitiously reaffirmed their unity in the international arena. Initially, the paper on European identity was however not meant to become a public declaration, but was destined to be the foundation for the transatlantic dialogue. It facilitated in fact a common 'European' stance towards the United States which had failed before. The Nine showed openly their unity and independency on several occasions in the autumn of 1973, which lead to large frustration among the Americans, especially Kissinger.

In historiography the process of integration is foremost described with emphasis on the cooperation between the larger states. It is not always clear what role the small states played in the European communities. It seems that the actions of the smaller states are noticed mostly when conflicting with the interests of the larger states. However, the strategies of small states to achieve national objectives within European decision making process are less noticed. These are not necessarily a response to the policies of the larger states. This paper argues that though less eye-catching, the small state's strategies influence European policy making and are thus of major interest for historical research.This is illustrated by a brief case study and an exploration of theoretical dimensions of the large and small states dichotomy and its influence on European policy making. The paper finishes with short conclusions about the usefulness of political science theories for the historian.

On 20 September 1976, the member states of the European Community signed the 'Act concerning the Election of the Representatives of the Assembly by Direct Uni- versal Elections', which was to introduce direct elections for the European Parliament in the member states. National parliamentary debates about the principle as well as the implementation of these elections were held in every member state. On the basis of these debates, this article investigates the ideas about European democracy that existed among members of national parliaments. It demonstrates that there were fun- damentally different philosophies about the role of the European Parliament and its relation to national parliament and various thoughts about the nature of European representation and the link to the voters. Finally, the article explores to what extent the national parliamentary debates can truly be seen as parts of a European debate.