On 24 February 1949, reporting on the first conference of the European Movement which is due to be held the following day in Brussels, the Belgian Socialist daily newspaper Le Peuple sets out the objectives of the conference and describes the development of the pro-European organisations that founded the Movement.

In this memorandum dated 24 October 1948, the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity sets out the proposed structure and organisation of a European Union which, the following day in Brussels, will adopt the name ‘European Movement’.

Winston Churchill and Paul-Henri Spaak participate in the first congress organised by the International Council of the European Movement, held in Brussels from 25 to 28 February 1949.

On 25 February 1949, commenting on the opening, the same day in Brussels, of the first Congress of the European Movement, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Tageblatt identifies the issues involved in the meeting and paints a picture of the main pro-European organisations.

Vom 25. bis 28. Februar 1949 organisiert der internationale Rat der Europäischen Bewegung in Brüssel seine Eröffnungssitzung, auf der die Verfechter Europas insbesondere für die Verabschiedung einer europäischen Menschenrechtscharta plädieren und die Satzung eines europäischen Gerichtshofes annehmen. In der Mitte: Winston Churchill, ehemaliger britischer Premierminister; sitzend: Paul-Henri Spaak, belgischer Außenminister.

In summer 1948, several eminent figures who participated in the Congress of Europe held in The Hague in the May decide to establish a ‘French Movement for the United States of Europe’ and devise a strategy in order to publicise it at local level. By immediately becoming a member of the French Council for a United Europe, this new non-political body automatically becomes part of the European Movement.

From 25 to 28 February 1949, in Brussels, the International Council of the European Movement holds its inaugural session, at the conclusion of which it adopts a Declaration on European policy.

From 25 to 28 February 1949, in Brussels, the International Council of the European Movement holds its inaugural session, at the conclusion of which it adopts a Proposal for the establishment of a European Court of Human Rights.

Conclusions and recommendations adopted at the inaugural session of the International Council of the European Movement in Brussels, held from 25 to 28 February 1949.

On 27 February 1949, the Belgian Socialist daily newspaper Le Peuple speaks to the French socialists Léon Jouhaux and Guy Mollet, who give their impressions of the first Congress of the European Movement which has just finished in Brussels.

On 28 February 1949, the Dutch daily newspaper Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant comments on the opening of the first Congress of the European Movement in Brussels and sets out the main objectives of the Congress.

On 1 March 1949, the British daily newspaper The Daily Telegraph notes that the plan for a European Assembly has been accepted by five governments and describes the inaugural session of the International Council of the European Movement, which took place from 25 to 28 February 1949.

On 2 March 1949, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Tageblatt gives an account of the first Congress of the European Movement, which met from 25 to 28 February in Brussels, and emphasises the determination of the participants to work diligently for the establishment of a united Europe.

On 3 March 1949, in an article in the French daily newspaper Le Monde, René Courtin, Member of the French Council for a United Europe, assesses the work of the first Congress of the European Movement held in Brussels from 25 to 28 February 1949.

On 4 March 1949, the Belgian Socialist daily newspaper Le Peuple publishes statements by socialists Henri Rolin, President of the Belgian Senate, Fernand Dehousse, President of the Human Rights Commission of the European Movement, and liberal Albert Lilar, former Belgian Minister for Justice. The first two call on the country’s socialists to work with the European Movement. All three men consider that the aim of Europe must be peace.

In 1948, the French Movement for the United States of Europe is established and immediately joins the European Movement.

In 1949, the European Movement publishes the results of a survey carried out by the Éric Stern Public Opinion Research Institute among German, French Italian, Norwegian and Dutch citizens on the implications of European unification.

In April 1949, commenting on the outcome of the first Congress of the European Movement in Brussels, Raymond Silva, Secretary-General of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and of the Planning Board for a European Centre for Culture, emphasises the importance of federalist ideals and of public support for the building of a united Europe.

On 6 April 1949, a European Movement delegation — composed of Duncan Sandys, Chairman of the Executive Committee; Robert Bichet, Hendrik Brugmans, Michel Rasquin and Paul Van Zeeland, Vice-Chairmen of the Executive Committee; André Philip, General Representative; Joseph Retinger, Secretary-General; and also Enzo Giacchero, Karl Wistrand and Ronald W. G. Mackay — attends the London Ambassadors' Conference on the Establishment of a Council of Europe in order to present it with a new memorandum on the future European Consultative Assembly.

From 20 to 25 April 1949, the European Movement holds an Economic Conference in Westminster at the end of which a series of monetary resolutions and resolutions concerning the establishment of a European Economic and Social Committee are adopted.

In 1949, the European Movement, officially established in Brussels in October 1948 to replace the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity, publishes a brochure in which it describes its origins, its objectives and its action plan.

From 20 to 25 April 1949, the European Movement holds an Economic Conference in Westminster during which the report submitted by the International Economic and Social Section on the implications of the establishment of a Common Market in Europe is examined.

In 1949, the European Movement publishes a manifesto in which it calls on Europeans to unite and sets out the main objectives of the process of European integration that it is keen to promote.

In 1950, the French Organisation of the European Movement publishes a leaflet in which it launches an appeal to the French people to elect national representatives determined to be actively committed to the establishment of a united Europe on a federal basis.

In February 1951, the European Movement publishes the first issue of the English version of its International Bulletin and entitles it ‘Europe today and tomorrow’.