In April 1957, Marinus van der Goes van Naters, a member of the Dutch delegation to the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), writes an article for the Dutch monthly publication Socialisme en Democratie in which he describes the main characteristics of the European Economic Community (EEC).

In this article published in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro on 17 March 1998, Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the Assembly of Western European Union (WEU), describes the organisation’s development and calls for its revival. He believes that WEU should not restrict its activities to the field of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) in accordance with the mandate given it by the European Union, but should rely more on the development of its own means of decision-making and action.

On 2 February 1953, Paul Struye, Belgian Member of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), comments on the United States’ position on the proposed European Defence Community (EDC) and describes the role of German forces in the future European army.

In the edition of the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique published on 20 February 1956 following the Conference attended by the Six in Brussels, Paul Struye, Belgian Catholic Senator and Member of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), analyses the question of the revival of European integration and the debates on the principle of supranationality.

On 13 September 1965, in the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique, Paul Struye, the Belgian Catholic Senator and former Member of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), analyses the impact of the press conference held on 9 September 1965 by General de Gaulle, President of the French Republic, which addressed, in particular, the issue of the empty chair crisis.

In this interview excerpt, Willy Claes, Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs from 1973 to 1974, from 1977 to 1982 and from 1988 to 1992, Foreign Minister from 1992 to 1994 and Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) from 1994 to 1995, describes his first encounter and contacts with Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Prime Minister from 1938 to 1939, in 1946 and from 1947 to 1949, Foreign Minister from 1936 to 1939, from 1939 to 1940 and from 1954 to 1957, President of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) from 1952 to 1954 and NATO Secretary General from 1957 to 1961. Willy Claes also emphasises his admiration for Paul-Henri Spaak, particularly mentioning his political vision and eloquence.

Am 15. August 1950 richtet Jean Monnet ein Memorandum über die Beziehungen zwischen den Organen des Europarates und den im Rahmen des Schuman-Plans vorgesehenen Organen an Robert Schuman. Die Beratende Versammlung des Europarates dient als Vorbild für die Gründung der Gemeinsamen Versammlung.

On 6 July 1989, addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mikhail Gorbachev, First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, outlines his idea of ‘a common European home’ and calls for a reduction in the number of strategic nuclear weapons.

In a note dated 19 October 1960, the Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) circulates a draft introductory statement proposed by the French delegation for the joint meeting of the Council and the Committee on Defence Questions and Armaments. The Council starts by explaining the reasons why some of the replies given to the Assembly are sometimes unsatisfactory, referring to the nature of WEU’s powers in the military field. The Council’s powers are limited to the level of forces of the Member States, the maintenance of British forces on the European continent, the control of armaments and some aspects of arms standardisation. Within the scope of its powers, the Council keeps the Assembly informed through its Annual Report (Article IX) and provides additional information to the committees. A procedure has also been developed with NATO for obtaining required information but this is subject to certain rules including the confidentiality of classified subjects. The Council concludes by pointing out that questions should be sent to the Council sufficiently early for this procedure to follow its course.

On 4 May 1962, the Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU) circulates the Council’s reply to Assembly Recommendation 69 on the state of European security. The Council’s reply focuses on the various aspects covered by the Recommendation, namely the need for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to strengthen its defence capability as long as no real disarmament has taken place and the importance of achieving a balance between conventional and nuclear forces to guarantee the greatest possible flexibility in responding to Soviet aggression. When forwarding the Recommendation to NATO, the Council drew its attention to the need to give greater authority to allied commanders in the deployment of land forces assigned to NATO. The Council’s reply also focuses on international cooperation for joint arms research and production, a field in which the WEU Member States play an important role. The Council also refers to the provision of information by NATO to the Assembly Committee on Defence Questions and Armaments, mentioning the procedure agreed between the two organisations in 1958. The Council intends to ask NATO to adopt as liberal an approach as possible in the provision of information.