Lesson plan
Spaak method
The Spaak method of negotiation is named after Paul-Henri Spaak, a Belgian politician, who applied this method at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom in 1956 at Val Duchesse castle in preparing for the Treaties of Rome in 1957. During the negotiations leading to the conference at Val Duchesse, most of the real negotiations took place prior to the actual Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) within the Spaak Committee that was charged with setting the agenda for the Val Duchesse conference. The final report of the committee then formed the basis for the final treaty which was then approved in Rome. Within this negotiating method, the preparatory committee had a strong initiating and brokerage role in the phase preceding the conference, while the actual Intergovernmental Conference only dealt with negotiating small changes in the original agenda prepared by the preparatory committee. This method was also applied to the preparation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) by the Delors Committee.
Article summary
The Spaak method of negotiation is named after Paul-Henri Spaak, a Belgian politician, who applied this method at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom in 1956 at Val Duchesse castle in preparing for the Treaties of Rome in 1957. During the negotiations leading to the conference at Val Duchesse, most of the real negotiations took place prior to the actual Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) within the Spaak Committee that was charged with setting the agenda for the Val Duchesse conference. The final report of the committee then formed the basis for the final treaty which was then approved in Rome. Within this negotiating method, the preparatory committee had a strong initiating and brokerage role in the phase preceding the conference, while the actual Intergovernmental Conference only dealt with negotiating small changes in the original agenda prepared by the preparatory committee. This method was also applied to the preparation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) by the Delors Committee.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.