On 6 February 1956, following a conversation with Paul-Henri Spaak, Jean Rivière, French Ambassador to Belgium, forwards to Christian Pineau, French Foreign Minister, a telegram in which he sets out the Belgian Foreign Minister’s position on the work of the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference and his position on British reservations about the revival of European integration.
On 24 March 1956, the Information Service of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) High Authority publishes a note on the session held by the ECSC Parliamentary Assembly on 16 March 1956 in Brussels on the theme of European revival. During this session, the Assembly of the Six expressed its political support for the ongoing negotiations between experts meeting under the leadership of Paul-Henri Spaak. The note identifies a convergence of views in political circles on the matters under negotiation.
On 18 December 1956, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, drafts a preamble that sets out the objectives and arrangements for the association of the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).
In 1956, after the summer recess, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) inaugurate the work of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom at the Château de Val Duchesse in Brussels, under the presidency of Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak.
On 19 June 1961, Albert Borschette, Luxembourg representative to the European Communities, sends ,a letter to Eugène Schaus, Foreign Minister, in which he expresses his disappointment at the substance of Paul-Henri Spaak’s memorandum on European political cooperation.
On 15 February 1966, the Luxemburg Embassy in Brussels sends a note to the Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Pierre Werner, in which it informs him of the position of the Belgian Foreign Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak, on the possibility of a revival in political cooperation between the Six.
On 23 February 1966, the Luxemburg Ambassador to Brussels sends a note to the Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Pierre Werner, in which he informs him of the position of the Belgian Foreign Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak, on the possibility of a revival in political consultations between the Six, in the presence of the United Kingdom.
On 29 June 1950, during the debates surrounding Belgium’s monarchy, the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique strongly criticises the anti-royalist position concerning Léopold III taken by Socialist Deputy and former Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak.
On 4 March 1965, the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique deplores the consequences of the merging of the Community executive bodies and criticises, in particular, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister, for having failed to defend Belgium’s interests effectively on this matter.
In September 1952, the British cartoonist, David Low, takes an ironic look at the joint efforts of Paul-Henri Spaak (left), Belgian Foreign Minister, and Robert Schuman (right), French Foreign Minister, to persuade their British counterpart, Anthony Eden (centre), to take part in the first steps of the Council of Europe, despite his fears and hesitations.