On 13 March 1956, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister, makes a statement to the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in which, emphasising the importance of a Common Market based on a customs union between the Six, he gives a progress report on the work of the Intergovernmental Committee, which he chairs, set up in connection with the revival of European integration.
On 26 September 1956, the Netherlands Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom drafts a memorandum on the implementation of a common commercial policy towards third countries and on the tasks of the future European Commission.
On 26 September 1956, during the proceedings of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, the Italian Delegation forwards to the Committee of the Heads of Delegation a note in which it reaffirms the principles which are essential for the fair operation of the Common Market.
On 26 November 1956, the German Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom submits a memorandum on the procedure for fixing the level of the common external tariff (CET) of the future European Economic Community (EEC).
On 5 December 1956, the French Foreign Ministry summarises the progress of the Val Duchesse negotiations on the Common Market and outlines the possible difficulties arising from the implementation of the future Treaty establishing a European Economic Community (EEC).
On 17 December 1956, the experts attending the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom analyse the appropriateness of including in the future Treaty the principles of or, at the very least, the guidelines for the common trade and tariff policy of the Member States of the future Common Market vis-à-vis third countries.
On 1 January 1957, the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera describes the efforts of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) to establish a Common Market and a European customs union.
In 1957, the Action Committee of the European Movement publishes a brochure in which it analyses the economic implications of the establishment of a Common Market in Europe.
On 3 October 1956, the French delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom drafts a note on the situation of agriculture in the Common Market.
On 13 October 1956, draft minutes of the meetings of the Common Market Group held on 2, 3 and 9 October 1956 in Brussels outline the progress of the work carried out by the Delegations from the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) regarding the role of agriculture in the future European Economic Community (EEC).
On 11 December 1956, the Luxembourg Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom draws up a note on the application of a safeguard clause for Luxembourg agriculture in the future Common Market.
On 28 December 1956, an internal note from the Luxembourg Ministry of Agriculture emphasises the special situation of Luxembourg agriculture in the light of the economic implications of the Common Market.
On 16 January 1957, the French daily newspaper Combat outlines the difficulties involved in the establishment of a European common agricultural market.
On 28 January 1957, at the Val Duchesse Conference attended by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique gives an account of the difficult negotiations on agriculture and, in particular, provides a summary of statements made to the press by Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom.
On 28 January 1957, the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir reports on the difficult negotiations on agriculture conducted between the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Val Duchesse and outlines the main thrust of a possible compromise.
On 24 January 1957, the Heads of Delegation of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) taking part in Brussels in the work of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom discuss a number of issues that have not yet been resolved with regard to the agricultural situation in the future European Economic Community (EEC).
In March 1957, in an article published in the mouthpiece of the Belgian Christian Social Party (PSC), La Revue politique, MP Maurice Van Hemelrijck describes the principles and arrangements governing the future common agricultural policy (CAP) as laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC).
Reactions of the farming community to the Common Market
On 4 December 1956, the German Farmers’ Union adopts a resolution that reaffirms the importance of agricultural reform to prepare the German rural community for the future Common Market.
On 22 December 1956, the Deutsche Bauern-Korrespondenz, monthly journal of the German Farmers’ Union, considers the impact of the Common Market and the customs union on agriculture.
On 15 January 1957, in Paris, Ernest Lemaire-Audoire, President of the Union of Meat Wholesale Trade Representatives and President of the National Council of French Employers’ (CNPF) Study Committee on Agricultural Issues, presents a report in which he emphasises the need to include, subject to certain conditions, agricultural products in the future European Economic Community (EEC).
On 18 January 1957, experts from professional agricultural organisations in the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) adopt a resolution on the development of a common agricultural policy (CAP) for the future European Economic Community (EEC).
On 15 January 1957, as debates on Europe are held in the French National Assembly, Henri Dorgères d’Halluin, MP for the Ille-et-Vilaine département allied to the Paysan (Countryside) political group, expresses his concerns at the place that French agriculture will occupy in the future Common Market.
On 25 January 1957, in connection with the drawing up of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom in Val Duchesse, the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera considers the future of agriculture in the Common Market.
Reactions of the farming community to the Common Market
On 26 March 1957, the day after the signing, in Rome, of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort publishes an article by Émile Colling, Luxembourg Agriculture Minister, describing the possible effects of the Common Market on the agriculture industry.
On 12 April 1957, the Central Committee of German Agriculture takes a stance on the European Economic Community (EEC) and expresses its concerns at the possible consequences of the Common Market for German agriculture.
On 20 June 1957, the Netherlands Chamber of Agriculture (Landbouwschap) takes a stance on the European Economic Community (EEC) and analyses the possible effects of the Common Market on the Dutch rural community.