On 6 May 1956, on the margins of a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Paris, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) determine the procedures and objectives of the Venice Conference, to be held on 29 and 30 May 1956.

On 16 May 1956, on the margins of the work on European revival, a confidential note from the secretariat of the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference outlines the organisation, objectives and implications of the Venice Conference to be held on 29 and 30 May 1956.

On 17 May 1956, Christian Calmes, Secretary-General of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), emphasises to Johan Willem Beyen, Netherlands Foreign Minister, the need to establish a post of Political Coordinator for the forthcoming diplomatic discussions on the Common Market and Euratom which, in his view, should constitute a single conference.

On 26 May 1956, Ludwig Erhard, German Minister for Economic Affairs, informs Heinrich von Brentano, German Foreign Minister, of the German Delegation’s priorities for the conference on European revival, due to be held in Venice on 29 and 30 May 1956.

On 29 May 1956, during the Venice Conference on the revival of European integration, Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, sets out the stance of his Government on the Spaak Report, the Common Market project and the Euratom project.

On 29 May 1956, the liaison office of the free trade-unions of the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) forwards to the President of the Venice Conference of Foreign Ministers a resolution in which it sets out its expectations with regard to the Common Market and Euratom.

On 29 May 1956, at the Venice Conference on European revival, Christian Pineau (standing), French Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Conference, outlines to his European partners the position of France regarding the Common Market and Euratom.

On 29 and 30 May 1956, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) meet in Venice to consider the implications of the Spaak Report and the plans for a common market and for Euratom.

On 29 and 30 May 1956, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) meet in Venice to discuss the Spaak Report and plans for the Common Market and Euratom. Joseph Bech, President of the Luxembourg Government and Foreign Minister, makes the most of the opportunity to make a colour film, with his own camera, of the ‘City of the Doges’.

On 8 June 1956, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) adopt the draft minutes that record the positions of each of the national delegations on the Common Market and Euratom as set out on 29 May 1956 during the opening of the Venice Conference on the revival of European integration.

Composition of the Delegations of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) at the Venice Conference on the revival of European integration held on 29 and 30 May 1956.

On 30 May 1956, shortly before the start of the negotiations in Val Duchesse, the chargé d’affaires at the French Embassy in Belgium, Bernard Dufournier, sends a letter to French Foreign Minister Christian Pineau in which he reports on the position of the International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ICCTU) concerning the European revival and the plans for a Common Market and Euratom.

On 29 and 30 May 1956, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) meet in Venice to discuss the Spaak Report and the Common Market and Euratom projects. At the end of this meeting, they inform the press of their conclusions.

On 30 May 1956, following the conference in Venice on European revival, Walter Hallstein, Junior Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), informs his government of the decisions taken by the Six and the position of the national delegations during the negotiations.

On 7 June 1956, Johan Willem Beyen, Netherlands Foreign Minister, reports to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Second Chamber of the Netherlands on the debates held on 29 and 30 May during the conference of Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) on the revival of the European integration process.

On 8 June 1956, Bernard Dufournier, Senior Adviser in the French Embassy in Brussels, forwards to Christian Pineau, French Foreign Minister, a telegram in which he outlines the satisfaction of Paul-Henri Spaak, President of the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference, with the proceedings of the Venice Conference and his optimism regarding the progress of the revival of European integration.

In this interview, Charles Rutten, former member of the Netherlands Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the implications and the course of the meeting held on 29 and 30 May 1956 between the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Deputy Head of the Private Office of French Junior Foreign Minister Maurice Faure, discusses the implications of the meeting held on 29 and 30 May in Venice for the revival of European integration, attended by the Foreign Ministers of the Six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 29 May 1956, the French daily newspaper Combat highlights the lack of interest, in France, in the Venice Conference on the revival of European integration and expresses its scepticism regarding the chances of success of Euratom or of a European common market.

On 26 May 1956, commenting on the forthcoming opening of the Venice Conference on the revival of European integration, the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort outlines the position taken by the International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ICCTU) on the Common Market and Euratom.

On 29 May 1956, commenting on the Venice Conference attended by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort considers the implications of Euratom and outlines the difficulties involved in the establishment of a European Common Market.

On 30 May 1956, in an article in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, André François-Poncet, member of the French Academy and former French Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), comments on the Venice Conference and analyses the implications, in particular in the military field, of the establishment of a European Atomic Community.

On 31 May 1956, reporting on the conclusions of the meeting in Venice between the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the Conservative daily newspaper La Nation Belge emphasises the satisfaction of the Belgian Delegation led by Paul-Henri Spaak.

On 1 June 1956, the French daily newspaper Le Monde considers the scope of the decisions adopted by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) who met in Venice on 29 and 30 May to study the Spaak Report and the proposals concerning the Common Market and Euratom.

On 2 June 1956, commenting on the Venice Conference attended by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort outlines why the establishment of a common market is proving more difficult than the creation of an atomic community in Europe.

On 5 June 1956, the Bulletin of the Press and Information Office of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) welcomes the decisions adopted by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) who met on 29 and 30 May in Venice to consider the Spaak Report and the plans for the Common Market and Euratom.

On 6 June 1956, commenting on the Venice Conference, the German weekly newspaper Rheinischer Merkur outlines the efforts made by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) to revive the European integration process.

On 8 June 1956, one year after the Messina Conference on the revival of European integration, the Milan daily newspaper Il Nuovo Corriere della Sera assesses the progress towards European integration made by the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 9 June 1956, commenting on the outcome of the Venice Conference on European revival, the Italian bimonthly publication Relazioni Internazionali gives an account of the complexity of the negotiations between the Six on the proposals for a Common Market and Euratom.

On 20 June 1956, as negotiations are held for a European Common Market, the French daily newspaper Le Monde publishes an article by François Walter which looks at the economic ideas behind the plan. The author regrets that the French public is not well informed of the ongoing negotiations and recommends the holding of a public debate as soon as possible so as to avoid another failure like that of the European Defence Community (EDC).