International security and parliamentary democracy in early European integration

This article explores the role of parliamentary democracy within the European Defence Community (EDC) and the European Political Community (EPC). The idea of these bodies was to establish a common European army governed by a set of political institutions, including a directly elected parliament. By drawing on institutional archives and the personal papers of its protagonists - Paul-Henri Spaak, Heinrich von Brentano, Altiero Spinelli, et al. - this article offers an internal view of the parliamentary practices they pioneered. It reveals a rich discourse on the potentials and limitations of parliamentary democracy at the European level, particularly regarding legislative powers and electoral rules.