In May 1940, air raids and bombing sorties carried out by the Luftwaffe destroy a large part of Rotterdam’s Old Town.

‘The Council of Europe …No forecasts. I declare the first sitting open ... I hereby close the final sitting.' In August 1949, the German satirical magazine Der Tintenfisch speculates on the effectiveness of the new European institution.

Stamp issued in 1969 by the Luxembourg Post Office to mark the 25th anniversary of the Benelux Customs Convention.

Der französische Plan für eine Europäische Gemeinschaft für Kohle und Stahl wird absichtlich geheim gehalten. Anfangs werden nur neun Personen ins Vertrauen gezogen: Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, Bernard Clappier, René Pleven, René Mayer, Pierre Uri, Étienne Hirsch, Robert Marjolin und Paul Reuter.

The issue of where to locate the permanent seats of the institutions of the European Coal and Steel Community remained undecided for a long time. According to the cartoonist of the satirical newspaper Der Tintenfisch, one must prepare for all eventualities: ‘The Sculpture Department of the Federation of Plastic Arts may have an interesting proposal for your town …’

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) High Authority building, in Place de Metz, Luxembourg.

‘Josy, good old Josy, so you managed to bring something back from Paris?' On 5 August 1952, in the Socialist daily newspaper Tageblatt, the Luxembourg cartoonist Simon portrays the key role played by Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in the agreement reached by the Six to have the seat of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) located provisionally in Luxembourg.

In this interview, Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, founder in 1924 of the Paneuropean Union, discusses the attitude of General de Gaulle towards European integration.

Dans ses Mémoires, le général de Gaulle évoque la politique de désengagement de la France vis-à-vis des structures militaires intégrées de l'Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN) et décrit le mémorandum dans lequel la France a plaidé en septembre 1958 pour la création d'un directoire tripartite - États-Unis, Grande-Bretagne et France - pour assumer la direction de l'OTAN.

On 22 January 1963, in Paris, the representatives of France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) sign the treaty known as the Élysée Treaty on Franco-German cooperation which enshrines the reconciliation between the two countries and under which they undertake to cooperate in particular in the fields of foreign policy, defence, education and culture.