AbstractEURATOM was created by politicians who put the advancement of European integration above all other goals. However, the science and energy policies of the individual member states were still largely conceived within a national framework. After its official establishment, EURATOM began to develop a life of its own. Significant conflicts arose between national and EURATOM interests as the records of the German Foreign Office and the German Ministry of Atomic Energy demonstrate. German scientists, engineers and business leaders preferred the more liberal approach to the development of nuclear energy taken by OEEC and its affiliate, the European Nuclear Energy Agency ENEA. In conjunction with the IAEA in Vienna, however, EURATOM performed a particularly useful service in helping to control the proliferation of fissionable material.