In this interview, Hubert Ehring, former Director of the Legal Service of the Secretariat of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes the influence of the international context on the Val Duchesse negotiations that paved the way for the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).

In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Luxembourg Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes the international context to the negotiations held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, between 1956 and 1957 which resulted in the adoption of the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).

In this interview, André Dubois, former member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the nature of the work carried out in Val Duchesse with regard to the establishment of a common customs tariff for the six Member States of the future European Economic Community (EEC).

In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Legal Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, describes the composition and working methods of the Legal Group, also known as the ‘Drafting Committee’, responsible for laying down the general provisions and determining the legal form of the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).

In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Legal Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, describes the allocation of tasks within this committee, also known as the ‘Drafting Committee’, responsible for laying down the general provisions and determining the legal form of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).

On 13 July 1956, the French Foreign Ministry sends a telegram to its diplomats abroad setting out the French Government’s position regarding the planned European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).

On 20 and 21 October 1956, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) meet in Paris in order to analyse the progress of the negotiations taking place at the Château de Val Duchesse during the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom.

On 18 January 1957, Gaetano Martino, Italian Foreign Minister, delivers an address to the Members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies in which he outlines the economic and political objectives of the negotiations conducted at the Château de Val Duchesse by the representatives of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) with a view to establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).

On 31 January 1957, Lambert Schaus, Luxembourg Ambassador to Brussels, sends a letter to Joseph Bech, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in which he reviews the positions of the ECSC Member States on the question of the seat of the European institutions.

On 9 February 1957, answering questions posed by the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera, Guy Mollet, President of the French Council of Ministers, emphasises the importance of the future Treaties establishing the European Economic Communities (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) for the future of European integration.

On 18 March 1957, René Mayer, President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), forwards a series of observations to Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, on the institutions and the possible impact of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), with particular regard to the operation of the common market in coal and steel and the coordination of energy policy in Europe.