Inspired by the endeavour a Dutch journalist, this essay embarks upon a quest for Europe's elusive E-road network. The green plates used to indicate the routes of the network are omnipresent, yet the network's past has remained elusive. This is undesirable, because the network and its accompanying flows can provide an enriching perspective on the process of European integration. Thus this remarkable phenomenon of the second half of the 20th century can be freed from its tight link with the EU and its predecessors. After introducing these underlying themes, the essay depicts the history of the E-road network, especially in its early years. The essay focuses on three distinct but interrelated aspects of the network, namely the technical specificities of the network, the accompanying flows that it has supported and the ideological component of European unification that was the rationale for promoting the E-road network. For the covering abstract see ITRD E139491.
Abstract