In May 1966, in the French quarterly newspaper Le 20e siècle fédéraliste, Paul-Henri Spaak, Socialist MP and former Belgian Foreign Minister, recalls several rounds of European diplomatic negotiations and dwells, in particular, on France’s attitude to the developments in the ‘empty chair crisis’ and on the adoption of the Luxembourg Compromise in January 1966.

From 27 to 29 April 1956, at the end of its meeting in Paris, with the help of the Socialist Movement for the United States of Europe (SMUSE), the European Congress of Labour — attended by Paul-Henri Spaak, Sicco Mansholt, Guy Mollet and Jean Monnet — adopts a series of resolutions on the social objectives of the future European Economic Community (EEC).

From 27 to 29 April 1956, with the help of the Socialist Movement for the United States of Europe (SMUSE), the European Congress of Labour — attended by Paul-Henri Spaak, Sicco Mansholt, Guy Mollet and Jean Monnet — holds a meeting in Paris, at the end of which it adopts a resolution on the objectives of Euratom and the conditions for its establishment.

On 12 November 1965, Pierre Werner, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, informs the Belgian Foreign Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak, of the guiding principles of the Luxembourg Government regarding some of the issues raised by the empty chair crisis.

On 14 January 1956, the French daily newspaper Le Monde focuses on the difficulties faced by the Foreign Ministers of the Six in implementing the solutions considered in Brussels by the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference and chaired by Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister.

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 1, 2 and 3 June 1955, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) meet in Messina to discuss the conditions for a revival of the European integration process. Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Walter Hallstein, German Foreign Minister, and Paul Henri-Spaak gather on the terrace of San Domenico Hotel in Taormina.

Am 10. Juli 1955 schildert die französische Tageszeitung Le Figaro die Aufgaben des Regierungsausschusses unter dem Vorsitz des belgischen Außenministers Paul Henri Spaak im Prozess der europäischen „Relance“.

On 25 March 1957, meeting in the Hall of the Horatii and Curiatii in the Capitol in Rome, the representatives of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) sign the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom). From left to right: Paul-Henri Spaak and Baron Jean-Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers (Belgium), Christian Pineau and Maurice Faure (France), Konrad Adenauer and Walter Hallstein (Federal Republic of Germany), Antonio Segni and Gaetano Martino (Italy), Joseph Bech and Lambert Schaus (Luxembourg), Joseph Luns and Johannes Linthorst-Homan (Netherlands).

On 20 April 1955, shortly before the publication of the ‘Beyen Plan’, the French Ambassador to the Netherlands, Jean-Paul Garnier, informs his government of the ongoing discussions within the Netherlands Government and between the Netherlands and Belgian Governments on the plans for a revival of European integration. Public information remains limited, but the Ambassador is hoping for further details after the forthcoming meeting between the Dutch Foreign Minister Johan Willem Beyen and his Belgian counterpart Paul-Henri Spaak.