Another Europe, rather than the other Europe?

This article analyses the nature of the asymmetry between the European projects shaped by the EEC and COMECON. It unveils how the socialist international organization took advantage of its commitment to a partnership with a little-known organization, the UN Economic Commission for Europe. During the Cold War, the COMECON was able to promote another concept of Europe than the one designed by the EEC and thus managed to escape being seen as embodying the other Europe, as Western observers have long believed. It did not mirror the EEC and cannot be considered its direct socialist counterpart. COMECON was an organization in which the Central and Eastern European socialist countries have learned how to manipulate the idea of Europe during the Cold War, in order to preserve their national sovereignty.