The role of nuclear particle physics in European science and education

In conjunction with the formal papers presented at the session of the CERN Council reported earlier in this issue, a booklet entitled 'The European 300 GeV Accelerator Programme' (more colloquially known as 'the white book') has been prepared. It aims to present the 300 GeV project and its background in a more general way. We reproduce here the opening chapter which puts the research at CERN and related Laboratories in Europe in the context of European science and education.