From 28 September to 3 October 1954, a conference attended by the Foreign Ministers of the United States, Canada, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany and the five Member States of the Brussels Treaty is held at Lancaster House, London, with the aim of finding a solution to the questions of organisation and defence in Western Europe.

Heinrich von Brentano, Vorsitzender der CDU-Bundestagsfraktion, schildert in seiner Rede vom 7. August 1954 die Ergebnisse der Londoner Neun-Mächte-Konferenz, welche der Bundesrepublik den Beitritt zur Westeuropäischen Union und zum Nordatlantikpakt ermöglichen.

On 3 October 1954, in London, in response to the failure to establish the European Defence Community (EDC) on 29 August 1954, the Nine Powers (Belgium, Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States) sign the agreements which pave the way for the Federal Republic of Germany to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and for the conversion of Western Union into Western European Union (WEU). From left to right: Gaetano Martino, Italian Foreign Minister, Antony Eden, British Foreign Secretary, Konrad Adenauer, German Chancellor, Pierre Mendès France, President of the French Council, and Lester B. Pearson, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs.

Am 5. Oktober 1954, nach dem Abschluß der Londoner Neunmächtekonferenz, erläutert der Bundeskanzler Konrad Adenauer vor dem Bundestag die Tragweite der getroffenen Vereinbarungen.

On 6 October 1954, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the difficulties experienced by the French and German delegations in reaching agreement at the Nine-Power Conference held in London from 28 September to 3 October 1954.

In this press release for cinema newsreels, Anthony Eden, British Foreign Secretary, announces to his fellow citizens the decision to hold a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, emphasises the agreements between the Atlantic Alliance and the newly created Western European Union (WEU), and justifies the establishment of WEU.

In his memoirs, Anthony Eden, British Foreign Minister from 1951 to 1955, describes the negotiation process at the Nine-Power Conference held in London from 28 September to 3 October 1954.

On 21 October 1954, at the Nine-Power Conference in Paris, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States resume the discussions started at the London Conference, held from 28 September to 3 October 1954, on the subject of European security and integration against the background of an Atlantic community in the throes of development.

On 22 October 1954, in Brussels, the North Atlantic Council adopts a resolution which approves the agreements concluded in connection with Western European Union (WEU) and seeks to enhance the collective defence system in Europe by placing the forces of the Member States of WEU under the authority of NATO Command.

On 22 October 1954, at a meeting in Brussels, the North Atlantic Council adopts a resolution in which it welcomes the extension of the Brussels Treaty to include the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy, the cooperation being established between Western European Union (WEU) and NATO and the decision taken by the US, Canadian and British Governments to continue to station their troops on the European mainland.

On 22 October 1954, the North Atlantic Council adopts a resolution which enthusiastically welcomes the declaration made on 3 October by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the corresponding declaration made by France, the United Kingdom and the United States. In its declaration, the FRG undertakes to follow a policy which complies with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and to refrain from any action which would be incompatible with the strictly defensive nature of the North Atlantic Treaty and the Brussels Treaty.

The Brussels Treaty of 17 March 1948, modified and completed by the protocols signed in Paris on 23 October 1954 which enter into force on 6 May 1955. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Italy accede to the modified Treaty. The ‘Consultative Council’ becomes the ‘Council of Western European Union’ (Article VIII), and the organisation established by the Treaty is renamed ‘Western European Union’ (WEU).

Dates of deposit of the instruments of ratification of the Protocol modifying and completing the Brussels Treaty of 17 March 1948. Pursuant to its Article VI, the Protocol entered into force on 6 May 1955, the date of the deposit of the Federal Republic of Germany’s instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty.

On 23 October 1954, in Paris, the five Member States of Western Union (France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg), together with Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), sign the Protocol Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty of 1948, thereby establishing Western European Union. From left to right: Konrad Adenauer, Joseph Bech, Paul-Henri Spaak, Pierre Mendès France and Gaetano Martino.

Mit den Pariser Verträgen vom 23. Oktober 1954 wird die Westeuropäische Union gegründet. Vier Protokolle modifizieren und ergänzen den Brüsseler Pakt vom 17. März 1948.

From left to right: Pierre Mendès France, Konrad Adenauer, Anthony Eden and John Foster Dulles answer journalists’ questions at a press conference held after the signing of the Paris Agreements on 23 October 1954.

On 25 October 1954, after the failure of the European Defence Community (EDC), the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool welcomes the signing of the Paris Agreements establishing Western European Union (WEU), and considers them to be an essential stage in the European unification process.

On 27 October 1954, in an article published in the Brussels daily newspaper La Dernière Heure, Roger Motz, member of the Belgian Senate and leader of the Belgian Liberal Party, emphasises the numerous advantages, particularly in military terms, resulting from the Paris Agreements, and highlights the efforts made by the British, French and German leaders to achieve this outcome.

‘The last obstacle?' In October 1954, the cartoonist Behrendt shows the European countries cooperating to overcome their differences in order to work together for the unity of Western Europe.

‘To cut a long story short, the West puts West Germany on the map, following the principle of free choice for the nations.' In January 1955, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, describes the rearmament process of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

In this note sent to the Belgian Foreign Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak, on 30 October 1954, Robert Silvercruys, Belgian Ambassador to the United States, tells of the satisfaction in the United States that greeted the signing, on 23 October 1954, of the Paris Agreements establishing Western European Union (WEU).

In November 1954, Paolo Emilio Taviani, Italian Defence Minister, emphasises the importance of Western European Union (WEU) for the military security of the European continent.

On 21 December 1954, in an address to the Italian Parliament, Pietro Nenni, leader of the Socialists, declares his opposition to Italy's ratification of the Paris Agreements, since he sees them as an obstacle to the policy of détente in Europe.

On 22 December 1954, Gaetano Martino, Italian Foreign Minister, outlines the advantages of Western European Union (WEU) to the Chamber of Deputies and calls for Italy's ratification of the Paris Agreements.

On 7 January 1955, the Belgian conservative daily newspaper La Nation belge analyses the debates taking place in France on the question of the ratification of the Paris Agreements and emphasises the Communists’ opposition to the establishment of a Western European Union (WEU).

On 20 January 1955, the Soviet satirical magazine Krokodil lambasts France's ratification of the Paris Agreements, by which it appears to be leaving itself vulnerable to the threat of a rearmed and revanchist Germany.

In a telegram sent on 21 January 1955, John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State, approves the creation of Western European Union (WEU) and emphasises the importance of strong unity in Europe.

In 1955, Eugen Kogon, European federalist and founder of the journal Frankfurter Hefte, paints a very critical picture of the year 1954 with regard to European unification on a supranational basis.

On 10 March 1955, the US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, sends to the governments of Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom a letter in which he sets out the reasons why the United States welcomes the establishment of Western European Union (WEU) and his ideas on how relations between WEU and NATO should be structured.

The January–March 1955 issue of the journal Chronique de politique étrangère, published by the Brussels-based Institut des relations internationales, analyses the outcome of the conferences held in London and Paris in 1954 to settle the questions which remained unresolved after the failure of the European Defence Community (EDC): the end of the occupation regime in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the FRG’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the modification of the Brussels Treaty establishing Western European Union (WEU), and the accession of the FRG and Italy to WEU.

As debates are held on the ratification of the Paris Agreements, Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Minister of State, gives an address to the Chamber of Deputies on 5 April 1955 in which he analyses the scope of the agreements signed on 23 October 1954.

Agreement on the Status of Western European Union, National Representatives and International Staff, signed in Paris on 11 May 1955. Under Article 3, ‘The Organisation shall possess juridical personality’.

On 7 and 11 May 1955, the first Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of Western European Union (WEU) is held in Paris. Simultaneously, the North Atlantic Council meets in ministerial session at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris to give official recognition to the Federal Republic of Germany’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

On 1 June 1955, the working group set up to analyse the question of the production and standardisation of armaments publishes a chronology of the events that led to the establishment of Western European Union (WEU).

On 11 June 1955, the Belgian daily newspaper La Gazette de Liège welcomes the establishment of Western European Union (WEU) and sees it as an important starting point on the road to European unity.

In Strasbourg on 6 July 1955, the day after the election of the first President of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), Antoine Pinay, French Foreign Minister, defines the position of WEU during a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in the run-up to the Geneva Conference of 1955.

In his memoirs, Anthony Eden, British Foreign Secretary from 1951 to 1955, describes the events surrounding the signing and ratification of the 1954 Paris Agreements establishing Western European Union (WEU).