On 19 March 1958, the first meeting of the European Parliamentary Assembly is held in Strasbourg under the Presidency of Robert Schuman.

First meeting of the European Parliamentary Assembly, held on 19 March 1958 in Strasbourg under the Presidency of Robert Schuman.

Robert Schuman, President of the European Parliamentary Assembly, at a working session in March 1958.

Pass belonging to Robert Schuman, President of the European Parliamentary Assembly.

Robert Schuman, President of the European Parliamentary Assembly, at a press conference in June 1959.

La Maison de l'Europe à Strasbourg où l'Assemblée commune de la CECA de 1952 à 1957, puis l'Assemblée parlementaire européenne de 1958 à 1977 tiennent leurs séances plénières.

On 22 October 1958, a working party on the European elections is set up within the Political Affairs Committee of the European Parliamentary Assembly. On 30 April 1960, it publishes the ‘Dehousse report’ on the election of the Members of the Assembly by direct universal suffrage, to be adopted on 17 May 1960.

On 17 May 1960, the European Parliamentary Assembly adopts a draft convention on the election of its Members by direct universal suffrage.

On 4 February 1963, Gaetano Martino, President of the European Parliamentary Asssembly, expresses his support for political union in Europe and emphasises the relations to be established between the European Parliament and the six national parliaments.

On 15 September 1964, the Luxembourg Ambassador to West Germany, Jean-Pierre Kremer, reports to his Prime Minister, Pierre Werner, on the indignation of some German MPs who are also members of the European Parliamentary Assembly. They are opposed to the fact that the European Parliamentary Assembly was not consulted about its future headquarters. This opposition comes despite the fact that these discussions were held in order to secure the support of German MPs for the European Parliamentary Assembly being based in Luxembourg.

On 27 June 1963, Members of the European Parliament adopt a resolution concerning the powers and responsibilities of the Assembly.

On 11 May 1965, Gaetano Martino, Member of the European Parliament and former Italian Foreign Minister, delivers a speech in which he seizes the opportunity provided by the debates taking place in Strasbourg on the financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP) to call for increased powers for the European Parliament and its election by direct universal suffrage.

On 21 February 1966, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera discusses the political implications of elections to the European Parliamentary Assembly by universal suffrage.

In this interview, Gaston Thorn, former Member of the European Parliamentary Assembly (EPA) and of the European Parliament, takes a critical look at the Assembly's role in Community debates and issues during the 1960s.