On 17 October 1978, the opening of the EEC/Portugal accession negotiations took place in Luxembourg. It was chaired by Klaus von Dohnanyi, Minister of State at the German Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs and President in office of the Council. The Portuguese delegation was led by Carlos Corrêa Gago, Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs. The session discussed the procedure to be followed in these negotiations, which mark the first steps in European political cooperation with Portugal.