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The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA EEC policy, 1957-1989

Financed by: The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding(UEFISCDI)

Project code: PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-0184
Contract number: 42/2018

Period: May 2018-April 2020

Host institution: University Valahia of Târgoviste, Romania, Faculty of Humanities

Project title: The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA EEC policy, 1957-1989

Project Acronym: OppWithin

Team of the project:

Project leader: Dr. Elena Dragomir

Mentor: Prof. Univ. Dr. Hab. Silviu-Marian Miloiu

Project summary:

Addressing a gap in historiography, this project aims to investigate Romania’s position and opposition regarding the CMEA EEC policy, between 1957 (when the EEC was established through the Treaty of Rome) and 1989 (when the socialist system in Romania collapsed). The project focuses, in equal measure, on instances when Romania agreed with the other members of the bloc, as well as on instances of opposition. Why Romania adopted a position or another? What tactics of opposition it used? Did Romania’s EEC position within the CMEA change over time, and if so why and how? How influential was Romania’s position on the overall CMEA EEC policy? Tackling such questions, the project traces the internal and external factors that provided the background for Romania’s position: the Romanian-Soviet relations, EEC enlargement process, the East-West détente, the CMEA reformation, or the perestroika. Theoretically, this project challenges the traditional conceptual framework on Romania’s opposition within the Eastern bloc, contributing to the development of a new theoretical approach. It operates with concepts as threats and perceptions, drawing from S. Walt’s balance of threat theory (according to which states reacted to external threats) and using a perceptual approach (according to which state’s behaviour is explained through the decision makers’ perceptions and views). The hypothesis is that Romania opposed the CMEA EEC policy because it was perceived as threat to Romania’s interests. Methodologically, the project fits into the New Cold War History paradigm, being multiarchival in approach and paying attention to the role of ideology (understood in a broad sense as views, system of beliefs, perceptions). Through its findings, the project contributes to the field of the studies on the CMEA-EEC relations and opens a new research perspective towards a comprehensive view on Romania’s foreign trade policy within the socialist bloc and towards the capitalist world.

Year I – 2018

Archive research:
In 2018, Elena Dragomir studied the theme of the project in three archives, as follows:

  • The Romanian National Central Archives, Bucharest, Romania,
  • The Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bucharest, Romania,
  • The Archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Helsinki.

Conference and seminar presentations:

  • On 29 September 2018, Elena Dragomir gave a presentation at the International Roundtable entitled Petites puissances et l’inégalité dans le système international / Small Powers and Inequality within the international system. The event was organized in Targoviste, by the University Valahia of Targiviste, Romania, the Cultural Centre for UNESCO ‘Citadelle de la Romance’ Târgoviște, in collaboration with Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, The Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies and the ‘Grigore Gafencu’ Research Centre of History and Cultural Heritage. Elena’s presentation was entitled Romania and the Common Market argument within the CMEA integration debates, 1962-1963 / La Roumanie et les arguments sur le marché commun dans les débats sur l’intégration du CAEM, 1962-1963. The programme of the conference is available here.
  • On 26 October 2018, Elena Dragomir gave a presentation at the International Conference entitled The 18th annual Aleksan¬teri Conference 2018: “Lib¬er¬a¬tion – Free¬dom – Demo¬cracy? 1918–1968–2018”, organized in Helsinki, Finland, by the Aleksanteri Institute and the University of Helsinki (24-26 October 2018). Elena’s presentation was entitled The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA-EEC negotiations on the 1988 Joint Declaration. The programme of the conference is available here
  • On 29 November 2018, at the „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iasi, Romania, Elena Dragomir gave a presentation entitled „Politica externă a României în perioada Războiului Rece: o nouă teorie?” / „Romania’s foreign policy during the Cold War: a New Theory?”  https://cis20.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Eveniment-29-nov-CIS20-web724x1024.png

Publications:

Elena Dragomir, ‘Romania and the intra-bloc CMEA negotiations on the establishment of CMEA-EEC relations, 1984-1988’ , in Historical Yearbook, vol. XV, 2018 , Romanian Academy, ‘Nicolae Iorga’ History Institute, 2018, p. 123-138, ISSN 1584-854X.

https://gafencu.hypotheses.org/files/2018/11/dragomir-elena-RST-English-2018-1.pdf

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH PROJECT

THE OPPOSITION WITHIN: ROMANIA AND THE CMEA EEC POLICY, 1957-1989

SCIENTIFIC REPORT

SECOND YEAR (January-December 2019)

Elena Dragomir

Financed by: The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding(UEFISCDI)

Period: May 2018-April 2020

Host institution: University Valahia of Târgoviste, Romania, Faculty of Humanities

Project title: The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA EEC policy, 1957-1989

Project Acronym: OppWithin

Project code: PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-0184

Contract number: 42/2018

Team of the project:

Project leader: Dr. Elena Dragomir

Mentor: Prof. Univ. Dr. Hab. Silviu-Marian Miloiu

Project summary:

Addressing a gap in historiography, this project aims to investigate Romania’s position and opposition regarding the CMEA EEC policy, between 1957 (when the EEC was established through the Treaty of Rome) and 1989 (when the socialist system in Romania collapsed). The project focuses, in equal measure, on instances when Romania agreed with the other members of the bloc, as well as on instances of opposition. Why Romania adopted a position or another? What tactics of opposition it used? Did Romania’s EEC position within the CMEA change over time, and if so why and how? How influential was Romania’s position on the overall CMEA EEC policy? Tackling such questions, the project traces the internal and external factors that provided the background for Romania’s position: the Romanian-Soviet relations, EEC enlargement process, the East-West détente, the CMEA reformation, or the perestroika. Theoretically, this project challenges the traditional conceptual framework on Romania’s opposition within the Eastern bloc, contributing to the development of a new theoretical approach. It operates with concepts as threats and perceptions, drawing from S. Walt’s balance of threat theory (according to which states reacted to external threats) and using a perceptual approach (according to which state’s behaviour is explained through the decision makers’ perceptions and views). The hypothesis is that Romania opposed the CMEA EEC policy because it was perceived as threat to Romania’s interests. Methodologically, the project fits into the New Cold War History paradigm, being multiarchival in approach and paying attention to the role of ideology (understood in a broad sense as views, system of beliefs, perceptions). Through its findings, the project contributes to the field of the studies on the CMEA-EEC relations and opens a new research perspective towards a comprehensive view on Romania’s foreign trade policy within the socialist bloc and towards the capitalist world.

During the first stage of the project (May-December 2018), I reviewed the scientific literature with regard to the subject, theory and methodology of the project. Thus, I read and critically analyzed numerous studies, articles, books, periodicals and press materials.  

During the second stage of the project I continued my documentation in libraries and archives.

Archive research in 2019:

  • The Romanian National Central Archives, Bucharest, Romania
  • The Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bucharest, Romania
  • Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU), Florence, Italy
  • National Archives of France, Paris, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France

Conference and seminar presentations in 2019:

Presentations delivered in 2019:

  • Elena Dragomir, 10 May 2019 , ‘Romania’s policy towards the EEC during the Cold War, 1957-1989’, at the 42nd Annual conference of the Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies called State and Non-state Actors in Eastern and Central Europe, Dublin City University, Ireland, 9-11 May 2019. The conference program is available at the link: http://www.iarcees.org/docs/ConferenceProgramme2019_preliminary.pdf.
  • Elena Dragomir, 20 June 2019, ‘Historical legacies of national sovereignty. Romania’s opposition to a common CMEA policy towards the EEC, during the Cold War’, at the  conference Sovereignties in Contention: Nations, Regions and Citizens in Europe, The 26th International Conference of Europeanists, organized by the Council for European Studies, at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 20-22 June 2019. The Conference program is available at the link: https://councilforeuropeanstudies.org/files/CES_Print_Program_6-5-19.pdf.
  • Elena Dragomir, 6 September 2019, ‘Romania and its ‘strategy’ towards the European Economic Community. The formative years. 1969-1974’, at the international workshop entitled Cold War East-West divide. Conflict, cooperation and trade, organized by the Valahia University of Târgoviște, Romania, and by the Grigore Gafencu Research Centre for the History of International Relations and Cultural Heritage of the same university. The program of the workshop is available at the link: https://gafencu.hypotheses.org/cold-war-east-west-divide-conflict-cooperation-and-trade-programme.
  • Elena Dragomir, 3 December 2019, ‘Romania and the negotiations for a CMEA-EEC agreement in the 1970s’ (invited speaker) at the Final Conference of the ERC PanEur1970s Project: ‘Looking West: the European Socialist regimes facing pan-European cooperation and the European Community, 2-3-4 December 2019, European University Institute, Florence (to be delivered). The program of the conference is at the link: https://apps.eui.eu/EUI_API/EVENTSV2/Attachments/Index?id=13663.

The project’s International Workshop:

On 6 September 2019, an international workshop was organized with the financial support of the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation, CNCS – UEFISCDI, Project number PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-0184, within PNCDI III (Title of research project: The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA EEC policy, 1957-1989). The workshop was entitled Cold War East-West divide. Conflict, cooperation and trade. The program of the workshop is available at the link ttps://gafencu.hypotheses.org/cold-war-east-west-divide-conflict-cooperation-and-trade-programme.

Publications, 2019:

Elena Dragomir, ‘Romania and the Common Market argument within the CMEA integration debates, 1962-1963’, in Anuarul Institutului de Istorie A.D. Xenopol, Iași, Editura Academiei Române, Issue 55/2018, pp. 325-342, ISSN 1221-3705.

Elena Dragomir, ‘Romania and the beginning of CMEA controversies over a common trade policy towards the EEC, 1969-1972’, accepted on 28 May 2019 for publication in European History Quarterly.

Elena Dragomir, ‘Breaking the CMEA hold: Romania in search of a ‘strategy’ towards the European Economic Community, 1958–1974’, in European Review of History: Revue européenne d’histoire (2019), https://doi.org/10.1080/13507486.2019.1694492

Elena Dragomir, ‘Opoziția din interior: România și politicile CAER față de CEE (1957-1989)’ – volume 1, Editura Cetatea de Scaun, Târgoviște, 2019 (în curs de apariție).

20 noiembrie 2019                                                                           Elena Dragomir

Download the annual report of 2019: https://gafencu.hypotheses.org/files/2019/11/raport-stiintific-dragomir-2019-en.pdf

Opoziția din interior

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH PROJECT

THE OPPOSITION WITHIN: ROMANIA AND THE CMEA EEC POLICY, 1957-1989

SCIENTIFIC REPORT

2018-2020

ELENA DRAGOMIR

Financed by: The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding(UEFISCDI)

Period: May 2018-April 2020

Host institution: University Valahia of Târgoviste, Romania, Faculty of Humanities

Project title: The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA EEC policy, 1957-1989

Project Acronym: OppWithin

Project code: PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-0184

Contract number: 42/2018

Team of the project:

Project leader: Dr. Elena Dragomir

Mentor: Prof. Univ. Dr. Hab. Silviu-Marian Miloiu

Project summary:

Addressing a gap in historiography, this project aims to investigate Romania’s position and opposition regarding the CMEA EEC policy, between 1957 (when the EEC was established through the Treaty of Rome) and 1989 (when the socialist system in Romania collapsed). The project focuses, in equal measure, on instances when Romania agreed with the other members of the bloc, as well as on instances of opposition. Why Romania adopted a position or another? What tactics of opposition it used? Did Romania’s EEC position within the CMEA change over time, and if so why and how? How influential was Romania’s position on the overall CMEA EEC policy? Tackling such questions, the project traces the internal and external factors that provided the background for Romania’s position: the Romanian-Soviet relations, EEC enlargement process, the East-West détente, the CMEA reformation, or the perestroika. Theoretically, this project challenges the traditional conceptual framework on Romania’s opposition within the Eastern bloc, contributing to the development of a new theoretical approach. It operates with concepts as threats and perceptions, drawing from S. Walt’s balance of threat theory (according to which states reacted to external threats) and using a perceptual approach (according to which state’s behaviour is explained through the decision makers’ perceptions and views). The hypothesis is that Romania opposed the CMEA EEC policy because it was perceived as threat to Romania’s interests. Methodologically, the project fits into the New Cold War History paradigm, being multiarchival in approach and paying attention to the role of ideology (understood in a broad sense as views, system of beliefs, perceptions). Through its findings, the project contributes to the field of the studies on the CMEA-EEC relations and opens a new research perspective towards a comprehensive view on Romania’s foreign trade policy within the socialist bloc and towards the capitalist world.

1ST STAGE OF THE PROJECT: May-December 2018:

  1. Archive research:
  2. The Romanian National Central Archives, Bucharest, Romania
  3. The Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bucharest, Romania
  4. The Archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
  5. Literature review:
  6. Reviewing scientific literature with regard to the subject, theory and methodology of the project.   
  7. Conference presentations:
  8. On 29 September 2018, I gave a presentation at the International Roundtable entitled Petites puissances et l’inégalité dans le système international / Small Powers and Inequality within the international system. The event was organized in Targoviste, by the University Valahia of Targiviste, Romania, the Cultural Centre for UNESCO ‘Citadelle de la Romance’ Târgoviște, in collaboration with Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, The Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies and the ‘Grigore Gafencu’ Research Centre of History and Cultural Heritage. My presentation was entitled „Romania and the Common Market argument within the CMEA integration debates, 1962-1963 / La Roumanie et les arguments sur le marché commun dans les débats sur l’intégration du CAEM, 1962-1963”. The programme of the conference is available at the next link: https://gafencu.hypotheses.org/petites-puissances-et-linegalite-dans-le-systeme-international.
  9. On 26 October 2018, I gave a presentation at the International Conference entitled The 18th annual Aleksanteri Conference 2018: “Liberation – Freedom – Democracy? 1918–1968–2018”, organized in Helsinki, Finland, by the Aleksanteri Institute and the University of Helsinki (24-26 October 2018). My presentation was entitled The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA-EEC negotiations on the 1988 Joint Declaration. The programme of the conference is available at the following link: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/liberation-freedom-democracy-1918-1968-2018/programme
  10. On 29 November 2018, at the „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iasi, Romania, I gave a presentation entitled „Politica externă a României în perioada Războiului Rece: o nouă teorie?” / „Romania’s foreign policy during the Cold War: a New Theory?” The announcement of the conference is available at the next link: https://cis20.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Eveniment-29-nov-CIS20-web-724×1024.png
  11. Papers published during the first stage of the project: 
  12. Elena Dragomir, „Romania and the intra-bloc CMEA negotiations on the establishment of CMEA-EEC relations, 1984-1988’, November 2018 in Historical Yearbook, vol. XV, 2018, p. 123-138, ISSN 1584-854X (Erih Plus și CEEOL).
  13. Elena Dragomir, „Romania and the Common Market argument within the CMEA integration debates, 1962-1963”, in Anuarul Institutului de Istorie A.D. Xenopol, Iași, Academia Română, Vol. 55, p. 325-342, ISSN 325-342 (CEEOL).

2nd STAGE OF THE PROJECT: January-December 2019:

  1. Archive research:
  2. The Romanian National Central Archives, Bucharest, Romania
  3. The Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bucharest, Romania
  4. The Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU), Florence, Italy
  5. The National Archives of France, Paris, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France
  6. Literature review:
  7. Reviewing scientific literature with regard to the subject, theory and methodology of the project.   
  8. Conference presentations:
  9. Elena Dragomir, 10 May 2019, ‘Romania’s policy towards the EEC during the Cold War, 1957-1989’, at the 42nd Annual conference of the Irish Association for Russian, Central and East European Studies called State and Non-state Actors in Eastern and Central Europe, Dublin City University, Ireland, 9-11 May 2019. The conference program is available at the link: http://www.iarcees.org/docs/ConferenceProgramme2019_preliminary.pdf.
  10. Elena Dragomir, 20 June 2019, ‘Historical legacies of national sovereignty. Romania’s opposition to a common CMEA policy towards the EEC, during the Cold War’, at the  conference Sovereignties in Contention: Nations, Regions and Citizens in Europe, The 26th International Conference of Europeanists, organized by the Council for European Studies, at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 20-22 June 2019. The Conference program is available at the link: https://councilforeuropeanstudies.org/files/CES_Print_Program_6-5-19.pdf.
  11. Elena Dragomir, 6 September 2019, ‘Romania and its ‘strategy’ towards the European Economic Community. The formative years. 1969-1974’, at the international workshop entitled Cold War East-West divide. Conflict, cooperation and trade, organized by the Valahia University of Târgoviște, Romania, and by the Grigore Gafencu Research Centre for the History of International Relations and Cultural Heritage of the same university. The program of the workshop is available at the link: https://gafencu.hypotheses.org/cold-war-east-west-divide-conflict-cooperation-and-trade-programme.
  12. Elena Dragomir, 3 December 2019,Romania and the negotiations for a CMEA-EEC agreement in the 1970s’ (invited speaker) at the Final Conference of the ERC PanEur1970s Project: ‘Looking West: the European Socialist regimes facing pan-European cooperation and the European Community, 2-3-4 December 2019, European University Institute, Florence. The program of the conference is at the link: https://apps.eui.eu/EUI_API/EVENTSV2/Attachments/Index?id=13663.
  13. Organizing an international Workshop:
  14. On 6 September 2019, an international workshop was organized with the financial support of the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation, CNCS – UEFISCDI, Project number PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2016-0184, within PNCDI III (Title of research project: The opposition within: Romania and the CMEA EEC policy, 1957-1989). The workshop was entitled Cold War East-West divide. Conflict, cooperation and trade. The program of the workshop is available at the link https://gafencu.hypotheses.org/cold-war-east-west-divide-conflict-cooperation-and-trade-programme
  15. Papers published during the second stage of the project: 
  16. Elena Dragomir, ‘Breaking the CMEA hold: Romania in search of a ‘strategy’ towards the European Economic Community, 1958-1974’, in European Review of History / Revue Européenne d’histoire, Published online in December 2019, https://doi.org/10.1080/13507486.
  17. Elena Dragomir, ‘Opoziția din interior: România și politicile CAER față de CEE (1957-1989)’, volumul 1, Editura Cetatea de Scaun, Târgoviște, 2019, 336 p., ISBN: 978-606-537-458-4.
  18. Papers accepted during the second state of the project (to be published):
  19. Elena Dragomir, „Romania and the beginning of CMEA controversies over a common trade policy towards the EEC, 1969-1972”, in European History Quarterly), estimated date of publication: July 2020.

3RD STAGE OF THE PROJECT: January-April 2020

A. Archive research:

  • The Romanian National Central Archives, Bucharest, Romania
  • The Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bucharest, Romania
  • Literature review:
  • Reviewing scientific literature with regard to the subject, theory and methodology of the project.   
  • Papers published during the third stage of the project: 
  • Elena Dragomir, ‘Opoziția din interior: România și politicile CAER față de CEE (1957-1989)’ – volumul 2 (documente), Editura Cetatea de Scaun, Târgoviște, 2020, ISBN: 978-606-537-466-9.

7 aprilie 2020                                                                         Elena Dragomir

Download the report of 2020:

Download the final report of 2018-2020: