On 5 and 8 July 1955, in Strasbourg, the first sitting of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) is held in the Hemicycle of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, attended by the delegations of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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.

On 5 July 1955, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Council of Western European Union (WEU), gives an address at the first session of the Assembly of WEU.

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.

In his memoirs, Anthony Eden, British Foreign Secretary from 1951 to 1955, describes the final negotiations and the signing, on 23 October 1954 in Paris, of the Agreements establishing Western European Union (WEU).

On 11 May 1955, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign in Paris the Agreement on the Status of Western European Union (WEU), National Representatives and International Staff.

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 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.

On 7 May 1955, in application of Article VIII of the Modified Brussels Treaty, the Council of Western European Union (WEU) approves the establishment in Paris of a Standing Armaments Committee (SAC) to be responsible for seeking joint solutions to the needs of the member States in terms of equipment. The SAC undertakes in particular to promote agreements or arrangements on subjects such as the research and development, standardisation, production and supply of armaments.

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.