On 23 October 1946, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the United Nations General Assembly, gives the opening address at the second session of the Assembly in Flushing Meadow, New York.

During the debate on the 1948 budget at the Belgian Foreign Ministry, Paul-Henri Spaak announces his support for rapid and close political and economic cooperation between Western European States.

On 13 March 1948, in Luxembourg, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, delivers an address during which he describes cooperation between European States as the best means of countering the Soviet threat.

On 21 July 1948, the International Committee of Movements for European Unity (ICMEU) questions Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Minister, on the United Kingdom's position concerning the creation of a European Assembly.

In August 1948, the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity sets down in a memorandum the efforts that it has been making for the past three months since the Congress of Europe in The Hague in order to persuade governments to establish a European Assembly.

On 28 August 1948, in an article in the Toulouse daily newspaper La Nouvelle République, Paul Ramadier, former French Prime Minister and Chairman of the Political Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague three months earlier, welcomes the action taken by the pro-European movements and the line adopted by the governments concerning the idea of a European Assembly.

On 28 August 1948, the French daily newspaper Le Monde depicts the United Kingdom’s reservations towards Europe, particularly with regard to the proposed European Assembly, and attempts to discover the reasons for such a guarded attitude.

On 7 September 1948, the British authorities express a number of doubts about the memorandum drawn up by the International Committee for the Coordination of European Movements (ICCEM) with a view to the establishment of a European Assembly.

On 18 October 1948, the French representative to the Standing Committee for the Brussels Treaty calls on all the delegations from the Five to work together for the establishment of a European Assembly.

On 26 November 1948, the British delegation on the Committee for the Study of European Unity, chaired in Paris by Édouard Herriot, proposes the creation of a Council of Europe which would consist of a Consultative Assembly and a Council of Ministers.

On 5 February 1949, at the end of the fourth session of the Consultative Council of the Treaty of Brussels in London, the Germany weekly Rheinischer Merkur comments on the decision by the Foreign Ministers of the Five (Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) to establish a future Council of Europe, and outlines the difficulties involved in such an enterprise.

On 28 March 1949, the British delegation participating in the negotiations of the Five on the establishment of a Council of Europe sends to its partners a preparatory note concerning the conduct and objectives of the final phase of their work.

On 5 May 1949, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung focuses on the diplomatic negotiations that seek to establish political cooperation between the democratic states of Western Europe and to establish a Council of Europe.

On 28 May 1949, the Luxembourg Communist daily newspaper Zeitung vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek portrays the British plans for European unification as an attempt by the United States to shield Western Europe from Soviet influence.

On 7 August 1949, while discussing the forthcoming meeting of the Council of Europe on the future of the European union, the Brussels weekly newspaper Le Phare Dimanche outlines the obstacles to be overcome on the path towards a European federation.

On 9 August 1949, the day after the first meeting of the Council of Europe, the French daily newspaper Le Monde remains cautious about the role of the future Assembly of Europe and is concerned about the obstacles that litter the road towards European unity.

On 24 December 1949, in the French daily newspaper Le Monde, Anthony Eden, former British Foreign Secretary, sets out the position that the United Kingdom intends to take within a united Europe, given the importance of the Commonwealth to the British people.

On 1 April 1950, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera considers the issues and the difficulties involved in the plans for a European political authority called for by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

On 10 December 1951, Paul van Zeeland, Belgian Foreign Minister, gives an address to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe in which he examines the possibilities for political development of the European institutions.