O Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros Português e a Integração Europeia (1951-1986)

After the devastation of the II World War, Europe will reinvent itself, namely by the commonly known movements of cooperation and European integration, with which Portugal also got involved in. Bearing in mind the official position of the Portuguese government towards European integration, through the time, this article analyzes specifically the role of the Portuguese Foreign Affairs Office regarding European integration. The time frame of this article goes from the Schuman Declaration in 1951 until the Portuguese accession to the European Economic Community in 1986. We conclude that, as expected, the Foreign Office served the regime's position on the matter, fulfilling instructions, but also adding its own vision, which was particular visible in some pro-European diplomats. Overall, the Foreign Office always battled to become a member of the "economic Europe" and after 1976 also of the "political Europe".