On 9 May 1950, in Paris, American Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, (third from the left) converses with Georges Bidault (fourth from the left) and Robert Schuman (second from the right) who is acquainting him with the subject of his press conference concerning the plan to pool European coal and steel.

On 10 May 1950, the French daily newspaper Le Monde anticipates the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) by reporting it before Robert Schuman gives his official address.

On 13 May 1950, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool considers the comments in France and the United Kingdom on the Schuman proposal to pool European coal and steel output and emphasises the surprise caused by the French plan.

In an article in the socialist daily newspaper Action, Louis Marin, socialist Member of Parliament for Meurthe-et-Moselle, expresses his fury at the French Government’s decision to leave the French National Assembly completely in the dark throughout the preparations for the Schuman Plan and is also anxious about the role assigned to Germany under the Plan.

Le projet français de Communauté européenne du charbon et de l'acier est volontairement entouré d'un grand secret. Au début, neuf personnes seulement en sont informées: Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, Bernard Clappier, René Pleven, René Mayer, Pierre Uri, Étienne Hirsch, Robert Marjolin et Paul Reuter.

Dans ses carnets personnels, Jacques Dumaine, chargé du protocole au Quai d'Orsay, note comment Robert Schuman a longtemps conservé secret son plan de mise en commun du charbon et de l'acier français et allemand.

On 2 July 1980, Étienne Hirsch, former Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board and former President of Euratom, explains to French historian Antoine Marès why the secrecy deliberately maintained around the preparations for the Schuman Plan was an essential condition for its success.

Composition of the first government of Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on 20 September 1949. (First row, from left to right) Anton Storch, (Minister for Labour), Ludwig Erhard (Minister for Economics), Konrad Adenauer (Chancellor), Franz Blücher (Minister for Marshall Plan Affairs and Vice-Chancellor), Jakob Kaiser (Minister for All-German Affairs), Thomas Dehler (Minister for Justice) and Hans Lukaschek (Minister for Refugee Affairs); (second row, from left to right) Wilhelm Niklas (Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forestry) and Eberhard Wildermuth (Minister for Housing); (third row, from left to right) Heinrich Hellwege (Minister for Bundesrat Affairs), Hans Schuberth (Minister for Posts and Communications), Gustav Heinemann, (Minister for the Interior), Fritz Schäffer (Minister for Finance) and Hans-Christoph Seebohm (Minister for Transport).

In a letter dated 7 May 1950, the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, writes to the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and informs him of his proposal to pool European coal and steel production.

On 8 May 1950, in his official reply to Robert Schuman’s letter which he received the previous day, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, informs Mr Schuman of his interest in the plan to pool European coal and steel.

Replying personally to Robert Schuman’s letter dated 7 May 1950, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, expresses his confidence in the French Foreign Minister’s plan for the future of Franco–German relations.

Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from 1949 to 1963.

On 11 November 1980, in an interview granted to journalist Roger Massip, Bernard Clappier, former Head of the Private Office of French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, describes how the Schuman Plan was disclosed to Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on the eve of the declaration of 9 May 1950.

In his diary, Herbert Blankenhorn, diplomatic adviser to the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, describes how the Chancellor was made aware of events on the eve of Robert Schuman’s declaration of 9 May 1950 on the European coal and steel pool.

Herbert Blankenhorn, diplomatic adviser to Konrad Adenauer at the German Foreign Ministry and Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to NATO from 1955 to 1959.

A close colleague of the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, Robert Mischlich is entrusted with the secret mission of personally announcing the French initiative to pool European coal and steel to German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on the morning of 9 May 1950.