On 3 June 1950, in a joint press release, the French, German, Belgian, Italian, Luxembourg and Netherlands Governments declare their intention to open negotiations for the pooling of coal and steel production and the establishment of a High Authority.

On 8 June 1950, Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg officials meeting at the Belgian Foreign Ministry prepare for the negotiations on the establishment of the international coal and steel pool.

On 8 June 1950, André Gros, jurisconsult at the French Foreign Ministry, comments on a telegram from Gilbert Grandval, French High Commissioner in the Saar, on the possible representation of this territory in the forthcoming negotiations between the Six in Paris for the implementation of the Schuman Plan.

On 10 June 1950, Count Carlo Sforza, Italian Foreign Minister, together with Paolo Emilio Taviani, Head of the Italian delegation in the negotiations on the Schuman Plan, determines Italy’s position in future negotiations of the Six.

On 12 June 1950, Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board, sends a note to the Interministerial Committee in which he identifies, particularly with regard to the future of the High Authority, the essential objectives of the negotiations due to open on 20 June in Paris between the representatives of the Six for the drafting of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

‘Europe under the magnifying glass: The Third Force.' On 13 June 1950, the German cartoonist Leger speculates on the role of united Europe on the international stage.

On 16 June 1950, Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, Director-General of Economic and Financial Affairs at the High Commission of the French Republic in Germany, drafts a secret note on the meeting that he had two days earlier with Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), concerning the organisation of the negotiations between the Six on the Schuman Plan and how these negotiations should take place.

On 20 June 1950, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, welcomes the delegations of the Six to the Quai d’Orsay and formally opens the negotiations for the establishment of a coal and steel pool in Europe.

Jean Monnet (left), Robert Schuman (middle) and Jacques de Bourbon-Busset (right), Deputy Head of Robert Schuman’s Private Office, at the opening session of the intergovernmental negotiations for the implementation of the Schuman Plan, held on 20 June 1950 in Paris.

List of the members of the delegations of the Six which are taking part in the negotiations for the preparation of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), due to start on 20 June 1950 at the Quai d’Orsay.

On 20 June 1950, delegations of the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy and the Netherlands opened negotiations in Paris on the implementation of the Schuman Plan.

On 21 June 1950, Agence France-Presse issues a dispatch in which it reports on the address given the previous day in Paris by Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board, at the opening of the conference between the Six on the Schuman Plan.

Dans ses Mémoires, Jean Monnet explique sa conception des institutions envisagées au cours des négociations intergouvernementales qui s'ouvrent le 20 juin 1950 à Paris pour la mise en oeuvre du plan Schuman.

On 21 June 1950, as the first session of negotiations on the Schuman Plan is held in Paris, an internal note from the German Foreign Ministry describes the proposals of Jean Monnet, Chairman of the conference, for the establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community.

On 21 June 1950, as the negotiations on the Schuman Plan open in Paris, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the issues surrounding these discussions, which are intended to result in the establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and draws attention to the United Kingdom’s absence from the negotiating table.

On 21 June 1950, the day after the opening of negotiations on the Schuman Plan in Paris, Jean Monnet, Chairman of the conference and Head of the French delegation, receives the members of the German delegation to discuss certain points of the plan which are of particular concern to the Federal Republic of Germany.

On 29 June 1950, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) analyses the work of the Paris Conference on the Schuman Plan and gives the German delegation instructions for the rest of the conference.

On 30 June 1950, Konrad Adenauer sends a letter to Robert Schuman in which he thanks the French Foreign Minister and assures him of his support in the forthcoming negotiations on the implementation of a coal and steel pool in Western Europe.

On 3 July 1950, Walter Hallstein, Head of the German Delegation at the intergovernmental negotiations on the implementation of the Schuman Plan, informs his counterparts of the position of his government.

On 4 July 1950, the French Foreign Ministry informs the press of the progress of negotiations at the Paris Conference on the Schuman Plan and announces the establishment of several working groups.

On 25 July 1950, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, gives an address to the French National Assembly in which he describes at length the progress of the diplomatic negotiations on the Schuman Plan, launched on 20 June in Paris, and discusses the issues surrounding these negotiations.

On 28 July 1950, in anticipation of a meeting in The Hague between British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin and his French counterpart Robert Schuman, Bernard Clappier, Head of Schuman’s Private Office, drafts a note for him in which the institutions of the future European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) are briefly described.

On 30 July 1950, Jean Monnet, Chairman of the Paris Conference on the Schuman Plan and Head of the French delegation, and Walter Hallstein, Head of the German delegation, discuss the position of the various delegations and the progress of the work. Jean Monnet proposes that the conference be adjourned until 12 August so as to give the respective governments an opportunity to analyse the interim report on the progress made.

On 1 August 1950, the French delegation for the Paris Conference on the Schuman Plan drafts a note setting out the economic and political principles underpinning the establishment of the coal and steel pool in Europe.

On 10 August 1950, delegations from Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands draw up a report outlining the decisions taken since 20 June 1950 when the negotiations opened on the implementation of the Schuman Plan.

On 10 August 1950, in an address to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, outlines the substance of his 9 May Declaration for a European coal and steel pool and reports on the progress of intergovernmental negotiations.

On 10 August 1950, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, outlines to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe the implications and scope of the European coal and steel pool.

In this memorandum, Jean Monnet considers the possibility of building interinstitutional relations between the Council of Europe and the institutions provided for under the Schuman Plan for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 15 August 1950, Jean Monnet forwards to Robert Schuman a memorandum on relations between the institutions of the Council of Europe and those provided for by the Schuman Plan.

On 1 September 1950, during the Paris negotiations on the Schuman Plan, La Gazette de Lausanne speculates on the future coal and steel pool’s chances of success and alludes to the delicate issue of rationalising the industrial sectors concerned and the risk of eliminating unprofitable factories.

On 14 September 1950, as negotiations are held on the Schuman Plan, Jean Monnet sends a telegram to Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, in which he describes a change in the attitude of the German delegation, which, fearing that German rearmament will no longer take place within a European framework but in a purely national context, lays down new conditions for the establishment of a common market in coal and steel.

On 21 September 1950, David Bruce, United States Ambassador to Paris, sends a telegram to Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State, in which he gives an initial assessment of the Paris negotiations on the implementation of the Schuman Plan.

On 22 September 1950, the heads of delegation of the countries participating in the negotiations on the Schuman Plan approve a report on the action and importance of the High Authority in the field of steel and coal production.

On 26 September 1950, the French delegates for the negotiations on the Schuman Plan give precise answers to the questions raised by the committee of legal experts on the compatibility between the common market in coal and steel and the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

On 27 September 1950, the French delegation for the Paris Conference on the Schuman Plan drafts a note setting out the roles and powers of the Court of Justice of the future European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

In summer 1950, the French delegation to the Paris Conference on the Schuman Plan drafts a note describing the general nature of the four institutions planned to make up the future European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 12 October 1950, Pierre Uri, economic and financial adviser at the French National Planning Board, drafts a note examining the possible ways in which the European trade union organisations might participate in the future institutions of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 14 October 1950, given the slow progress in negotiations on the coal and steel pool, Jean Monnet sends a letter to Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, in which he discusses the impact of the question of German rearmament on the current negotiations and outlines the political methods that will enable a positive solution to the German problem to be found.

Discussions held in Paris on 20 and 21 October 1950 to prepare for the implementation of the Schuman Plan. From left to right: Gust de Muynck, Jean Monnet and Pierre Uri.

On 8 November 1950, the United States Administration drafts an aide-memoire in which it reaffirms its support for the French initiative of 9 May 1950 and welcomes the progress made during the negotiations between the Six on the Schuman Plan.

On 11 November 1950, Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, Head of the General Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs at the French High Commission in Germany, drafts a short note on the attitude that the British might adopt were the International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR) to cease to exist following the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 30 November 1950, Jean Monnet gives the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, a progress report on the negotiations on the Schuman Plan.

On 22 December 1950, in anticipation of the implementation of the Schuman Plan, Jean Monnet sends a letter to Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, in which he outlines the instructions to be given to the French representatives of the Allied High Commission for the reorganisation of the Ruhr’s coal and steel industries.

In his memoirs, Pierre Uri, Member of the French Delegation to the negotiations on the Schuman Plan, recalls the debates on the subject of the new institutions to be created within the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

Dans ses Mémoires, Jean Monnet évoque l'ouverture des marchés du charbon et de l'acier à la libre concurrence européenne ainsi que l'application des programmes de décartellisation industrielle en Allemagne.

On 22 January 1951, Jean Monnet sends a letter to Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, in which he raises the problem of the break up of the Ruhr iron and steel industries in connection with the European coal and steel pool.

On 19, 21 and 22 February 1951, the British daily newspaper The Manchester Guardian comments on the state of negotiations between the Six on the Schuman Plan, focusing particularly on how the future European Coal and Steel Community will work and the implications of the coal and steel pool for German industry.

On 12 April 1951, the Foreign Ministers — Konrad Adenauer, Carlo Sforza, Paul van Zeeland, Dirk Stikker, Joseph Bech and Robert Schuman — of the six countries participating in the Schuman Plan meet in the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs in order to put the finishing touches to the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), signed on 18 April.

On 19 March 1951, Jean Monnet, Chairman of the Schuman Plan conference, welcomes the decision taken by the representatives of the six governments that participated in the negotiations on the Schuman Plan in Paris to initial the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) at the Quai d’Orsay.

On 19 March 1951, at the Quai d’Orsay, Walter Hallstein, Head of the German delegation (second from the left, seated), Jean Monnet, Head of the French delegation (seated, on the right), and the Heads of the Italian, Belgian, Netherlands and Luxembourg delegations initial the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

In the opening speech delivered at the inaugural session of the ECSC High Authority on 10 August 1952, the Luxembourg Minister, Joseph Bech, outlines the progress of the intergovernmental negotiations inspired by the Treaty signed in Paris on 18 April 1951.

In this interview, Max Kohnstamm, member of the Netherlands Delegation to the negotiations on the Schuman Plan, recalls the personality and attitude of Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board, during the negotiations, held in Paris from 1950 to 1951, on the pooling of coal and steel.

On 19 June 1951, the delegations from the six countries signatory to the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) hold discussions in Paris on the subject of the institutional relations to be established between the ECSC, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).

‘… catch it, but only just!’ On 19 June 1950, German cartoonist Beuth illustrates the participation of the German delegation in the Paris negotiations on the Schuman Plan, emphasising the return of the Federal Republic of Germany to the international stage.

On 21 June 1950, the German daily newspaper Die Welt highlights the issues being discussed at the negotiations under way in Paris on the Schuman Plan involving the Benelux countries, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), France and Italy.

Bar graphs illustrating the differences in the production of coal and steel, calculated in thousands of tonnes, between Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Luxembourg, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands in the early 1950s.

‘"Träumerei ", by Robert Schuman'. On 22 June 1950, two days after the opening of the negotiations on the Schuman Plan in Paris, German cartoonist Felix Mussil illustrates the daydream of French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman: ‘The plan for a coal and steel pool as a fundamental stage in the history of European unification.'

On 4 July 1950, the German daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt makes an initial assessment of the negotiations on the implementation of the Schuman Plan and describes the complexity of the issues addressed by the various national delegations.

On 27 July 1950, in an article published by the German daily newspaper Die Zeit, Günter Henle, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) MP in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Chairman of the Schuman Plan Steel Committee, gives a progress report on the negotiations on the establishment of a European coal and steel pool.

On 14 September 1950, the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit highlights the positive progress of the negotiations for the implementation of the Schuman Plan and emphasises the economic and political advantages of the future European coal and steel pool.

On 6 September 1950, La Gazette de Lausanne sets out the economic and political consequences of the Schuman Plan for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and for France.

On 28 September 1950, Jean Monnet sends a note to Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, in which he gives details of a private visit from the Federal Minister for the Economy, Ludwig Erhard, who, while highlighting the implications of the Schuman Plan, emphasises the concern and astonishment of German authorities at Allied policy in Germany.

On 11 October 1950, as intergovernmental negotiations are held on the Schuman Plan, the German daily newspaper Die Welt comments on the disagreements between the Six concerning the future organisation of the common market for coal and steel.

On 3 February 1951, the Netherlands mission in Germany draws up a note which sets out the attitudes of the general public and the West German press towards the negotiations under way in Paris on the Schuman Plan.

On 31 March 1951, the leader of the West German Social Democratic Party, Kurt Schumacher, harshly criticises the Schuman Plan and outlines the risks being taken by the Federal Republic of Germany.

On 5 April 1951, a few days before the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), Jean Monnet converses with Konrad Adenauer, German Federal Chancellor (on the right), and Walter Hallstein (on the left), German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

On 22 June 1951, during the intergovernmental negotiations regarding the establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung lists the economic and social problems that the Six will have to face.

On 9 July 1950, Raymond Scheyven, Belgian Christian-Socialist MP, gives an interview to the Brussels weekly newspaper Le Phare Dimanche in which he sets out his opinion on the Schuman Plan.

In July 1950, as negotiations on the Schuman Plan are held, the Belgian monthly bulletin Courrier métallurgique reports on the debate over the powers of the High Authority.

On 19 November 1950, the Brussels weekly newspaper Le Phare Dimanche reports on the negotiations under way in Paris on the preparations for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 21 November 1950, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the reactions in Belgian trade union and political circles to the plan for a coal and steel pool.

On 24 January 1951, the Belgian daily newspaper La Libre Belgique outlines the positions adopted by the governments of the Six with regard to the extent of supranationality to be granted to the High Authority referred to in the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950.

On 5 February 1951, in the Belgian Communist daily newspaper Le Drapeau Rouge, Pierre Joye expresses his concerns at the economic and social consequences of the Schuman Plan for Belgian coal mines.

On 10 March 1951, the industrial journal L’Usine belge reports on the concern of the national industrial federations of the six countries involved in the Schuman Plan, in particular regarding the powers of the future High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community.

On 19 March 1951, Louis Pierson writes to Fernand Dehousse, a Belgian Socialist Senator and a very active pro-European militant, to protest against the attitude in the Belgian coal industry and the Government towards the Schuman Plan.

On 28 March 1951, the Belgian Organisation of Blast Furnaces and Steel Works sets out the stance taken by the Belgian iron and steel industry on the draft Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and on its various transitional provisions.

On 4 April 1951, the Central Council for the Economy, a public consultative body for the Belgian economy, delivers its opinion on the establishment of a common European market for coal and steel and on the implications thereof for the national economy.

On 6 April 1951, in order to clear up any misunderstandings about the implications of the Schuman Plan for Belgium, the Walloon Economic Council clarifies the scope of some of the provisions of the draft Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.

On 20 June 1950, as negotiations on the Schuman Plan open in Paris, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro considers the political and economic impact of the French plan and analyses the arguments of opponents to the plan to pool European coal and steel output.

On 20 June 1950, the French daily newspaper L’Aurore outlines how the forthcoming negotiations on the implementation of the Schuman Plan will take place and gives some information on the positions of the various national delegations in Paris.

On 20 and 21 June 1950, the French regional daily newspaper Le Républicain Lorrain announces the opening in Paris of the intergovernmental negotiations for the implementation of the Schuman Plan.

On 21 June 1950, commenting on the opening of negotiations on the Schuman Plan in Paris, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité deplores the agreement between French, German and American employers to set up a cartel for the manufacture of weapons and the exploitation of workers from Western Europe.

On 21 June 1950, the day after the opening of negotiations on the Schuman Plan in Paris, cartoonist Woop illustrates the various contributions that the Six can make towards the implementation of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 21 June 1950, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité harshly criticises the opening in Paris of negotiations on the Schuman Plan and expresses concern over the future of national industries.

On 24 June 1950, Maurice Thorez, General Secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), severely criticises the Schuman Plan and its economic implications.

On 24 June 1950, the Central Committee of the French Communist Party (PCF) adopts a Resolution that strongly criticises the Schuman Plan.

‘From Montoire to the Clock Room and vice versa.' For the cartoonist Henri-Paul Gassier, commenting on 24 June 1950 in the French Communist daily newspaper L'Humanité on the opening, four days earlier in Paris, of the negotiations on the Schuman Plan, the proposed coal and steel pool endorsed by Robert Schuman and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer is comparable to an act of treason against French interests and a repeat of the meeting that took place between Pétain and Hitler in Montoire on 24 October 1940.

On 24 June 1950, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité reports on the negotiations taking place in Paris for the establishment of the coal and steel pool and deplores the secrecy surrounding the discussions.

On 2 July 1950, the Moselle metal trade unions adopt a resolution that describes the dangers of the Schuman Plan and calls for all workers to unite to fight against a plan described as ‘anti-French’ and ‘anti-worker’.

On 12 July 1950, industrialist Jules Aubrun, Head of the French Steel Industry Employers’ Association, sends a note to French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman outlining the views of France’s leading iron and steel companies with regard to the economic and political issues surrounding the plan for a European coal and steel pool.

In July 1950, the French Communist weekly newspaper Le Patriote Mosellan deplores the many dangers of the Schuman Plan for the national economy and sees the coal and steel pool as another instrument in the service of war.

In July 1950, the French journal Le Guide du métallurgiste publishes the text of a lecture given a few days earlier in Paris by Ambroise Croizat, Secretary-General of the Federation of Metalworkers, on the economic and social threats that the Schuman Plan might pose for the working class in the coal and steel sectors.

In August 1950, the French union CGT (General Trade Union Confederation) and the German union FDGB (Confederation of Free German Trade Unions) publish a joint communiqué calling on steel workers from both countries to join forces to combat the Schuman Plan.

In 1950, the leading French steel companies give their reactions to the plan for a common market in steel under the Schuman Plan.

On 9 September 1950, Pierre Uri, economic and financial adviser at the French National Planning Board, drafts a note for the meeting of the International Economic Association in Monaco in which he examines relations between the global economy and the common market in coal and steel that the Schuman Plan aims to establish in Europe.

On 15 November 1950, in an article in the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité, Henri Jourdain, General Secretary of the International Union of Miners (WFTU), urges the workers of Europe to reject the Schuman Plan, which he describes as an instrument of war at the service of the United States.

Fiercely opposed to the Schuman Plan, the Communist World Union Movement strongly criticises US control over the European economy and predicts a deterioration in the financial situation of the working class.

On 20 November 1950, the French Christian Democratic daily newspaper L’Aube outlines the economic and social issues surrounding the Schuman Plan.

On 21 November 1950, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Committee on European Affairs adopts a declaration on the implementation of the Schuman Plan.

On 13 November 1950, Jules Aubrun, President of the French Iron and Steel Employers’ Federation, sends to René Pleven, French Prime Minister, a letter in which he complains of being sidelined from the negotiations on the Schuman Plan.

On 17 November 1950, Jean Monnet sends a letter to Jules Aubrun, head of the French Steel Industry Employers’ Association, in which he refutes the allegations made by Aubrun on the distance between the French steel industry and the current negotiations on the Schuman Plan.

On 21 November 1950, the French National Planning Board drafts a note emphasising the advantages for French coal mines of the establishment of a European common market in coal under the Schuman Plan.

In December 1950, the journal Fédération publishes the report on the Schuman Plan that was prepared one month earlier by the Belgian Charles Baré, Managing Director of the Walloon Economic Council, for the third Congress of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) in Strasbourg.

In December 1950, the journal Notre Europe sets out for its readership the arguments put forward by the French Planning Commission to counter the criticism levelled at the Schuman Plan to pool European coal and steel.

In this note to the French Government, the Employers' Federation of the French Steel Industry expresses its concern about the opening-up of the national market to competition from steel products from other Member States of the future European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 28 December 1950, the French delegation for the Paris Conference on the Schuman Plan drafts a note refuting the main criticisms levelled at the plan for a European coal and steel pool by the French Steel Industry Employers’ Association.

In 1950, Jean Constant, representative of French steel users, identifies the advantages of a common market in steel products in Europe.

On 15 January 1951, the French trade union bulletin Politique extérieure et Action ouvrière publishes a detailed report on the political and economic issues surrounding the implementation of the Schuman Plan.

On 3 February 1951, the French daily newspaper Le Monde outlines the problems of industrial concentration in the German coal and steel industry.

On 2 March 1951, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, gives a lecture in the Salle Pleyel in Paris in which he places particular emphasis on the need for France to promote and participate in the efforts for economic and political unification in Western Europe.

On 30 March 1951, in an article in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, philosopher Raymond Aron examines the objections in European industrial circles regarding the future coal and steel pool and analyses the criticism concerning the role of the High Authority.

On 2 April 1951, Albert Bureau, Director for the Iron and Steel Industry in the French Ministry of Industrial Production, drafts a note outlining the reasons why the development of the coal and steel industries in the Lorraine region as a counterbalance to the Ruhr basin is one of the political conditions for the success of the Schuman Plan.

On 7 April 1951, in an article published in the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, the philosopher Raymond Aron considers the fears and hopes born of the plan for a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and speculates on the ratification of the future treaty.

On 13 April 1951, as the conference of the six countries involved in the Schuman Plan is held in Paris, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité criticises the dealings taking place between the French Government and the German authorities and deems the finalisation of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) to be the creation ‘of a horrendous plot against peace’.

On 17 April 1951, in an article in the French daily newspaper Le Populaire, Socialist leader Paul Ramadier comments on the results of the negotiations between the Six for the implementation of the Schuman Plan and identifies the positive aspects and the weaknesses of the draft treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 21 June 1950, following the opening in Paris of the official negotiations on implementation of the Schuman Plan, the Italian Socialist daily newspaper Avanti expresses its concerns about the future of the national steel industry when confronted with Franco–German ambitions. In the centre, Count Carlo Sforza, Italian Foreign Minister.

On 4 July 1950, the Italian daily Communist newspaper L’Unità publishes a declaration by the Communist parties of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in opposition to the Schuman Plan.

On 11 July 1950, replying to criticisms levelled by opponents of the Schuman Plan, Count Carlo Sforza, Italian Foreign Minister, addresses the Italian Chamber of Deputies and emphasises the benefits to be derived by Italy from a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 9 September 1950, the Italian newspaper Liberta recounts the difficulties encountered during the Schuman Plan negotiations for the organisation of a future European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 2 June 1950, with an eye to future negotiations on the Schuman Plan in Paris, the Luxembourg iron mine managers address a letter to Pierre Dupong, Head of the Luxembourg government, in order that experts from the mining sector should become an intrinsic part of the national delegation.

On 20 June 1950, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort considers the political and economic scope of plans for a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 20 June 1950, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort considers the importance of pooling the coal and steel output of the Benelux countries, the Federal Republic of Germany, France and Italy from a European perspective.

On 17 April 1951, on the eve of the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) by the Six in Paris, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort publishes an article emphasising the implications of the Schuman Plan for European integration.

On 20 June 1950, as negotiations open in Paris on the Schuman Plan, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool considers the United Kingdom’s absence from the negotiating table and looks at the position adopted by the Netherlands in the light of the issues surrounding the Schuman Plan.

On 24 June 1950, the Netherlands daily newspaper De Volkskrant reports on the progress of the negotiations on the Schuman Plan in Paris and discusses the economic implications of the future coal and steel pool.

On 5 July 1950, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk reports on the reluctance of the governments of the three Benelux countries to accept French requests at the negotiations under way in Paris on the Schuman Plan.

On 22 July 1950, in the Dutch daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk, the Netherlands Socialist MP Marinus van der Goes van Naters, Delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, comments on the issues at stake in the negotiations under way in Paris on the Schuman Plan.

On 5 January 1951, the Netherlands Trade Union Federation draws up an internal note on the attitude of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in connection with the negotiations under way in Paris on the Schuman Plan.

In this interview, Max Kohnstamm, member of the Netherlands Delegation to the negotiations on the Schuman Plan, recalls the conduct of talks in Paris and describes the position maintained by Dirk Spierenburg, Head of the Netherlands Delegation.