A pillar of the Golden Age? European integration and the "Trente Glorieuses"

Through an analysis of existing literature, and on the basis of previous archival research, this essay reconstructs the multiple ways in which economic integration contributed to the deep socio-economic transformation of Western Europe during the thirty years after WWII. It examines, in particular, the role played by the Marshall Plan and related bodies (OECD, EPU) and by the European Communities (ECSC and EEC) in promoting some of the most prominent features of the “Golden Age”: Keynesian economic policies, the construction of welfare states and widespread social dialogue.