On 5 September 1944, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands sign a Customs Convention which, together with an additional Protocol of 14 March 1947, enters into force on 1 January 1948.

On 3 February 1958, the Treaty instituting the Benelux Economic Union is signed in The Hague. There, Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, pays tribute to those who took the initiative for this union before the end of the war.

On 1 January 1948, the customs convention concluded between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - known collectively as Benelux - entered into force. The Luxembourg newspaper Tageblatt comments on the event.

On 23 December 1947, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort refers to the Benelux project as an example of how to bridge national divides in Europe.

On 10 March 1948, Robert Als, Minister Plenipotentiary of Luxembourg in Brussels, sends a letter to his Minister for Foreign Affairs, Joseph Bech, in which he lists the main provisions of the future Brussels Treaty and summarises the position of the various negotiating countries.

The Treaty of Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration and Collective Self-Defence, signed in Brussels on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It enters into force on 25 August 1948. Although this Treaty provides only for ‘cooperation’ between the contracting parties, ‘which will be effected through the Consultative Council referred to in Article VII’, and it does not provide for the establishment of an international organisation, in practice it leads to the creation of an organisation known as the ‘Brussels Treaty Organisation’ or ‘Western Union’.

On 17 March 1948, Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, signs the Brussels Treaty which establishes Western Union and sets up a defensive alliance as well as military, economic, social and cultural cooperation between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

On 17 March 1948, in Brussels, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration and Collective Self-Defence. This Treaty leads to the establishement of Western Union. From left to right: Paul-Henri Spaak, Georges Bidault, Joseph Bech, Baron Carel Godfried van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout and Ernest Bevin.

Map showing the five founding Member States of Western Union (WU). The Brussels Treaty establishing Western Union is signed on 17 March 1948 and enters into force on 25 August 1948.

On 21 April 1948, Pierre Pescatore, legal adviser at the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry, drafts a note on the military obligations resulting from the Brussels Treaty of 17 March 1948 in comparison with the provisions of the United Nations Charter.

During the negotiations on the Brussels Treaty, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort considers the importance of the new organisation for European unification.

On 16 April 1948, in Paris, the representatives of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom and the Commanders-in-Chief of the French, British and US occupation zones in Germany sign the Convention establishing the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which enters into force on 1 July 1948.

On 16 April 1948, in Paris, representatives of the 16 European States that have accepted the US aid provided under the Marshall Plan sign the Convention establishing the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) which will enter into force on 1 July 1948.

On 4 April 1949, in Washington, Luxembourg signs the North Atlantic Treaty.

The signing of the North Atlantic Treaty takes place on 4 April 1949 in the Grand Auditorium of the State Department in Washington. Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, delivers a speech on the importance of the new military alliance.

Map depicting the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949 in Washington and NATO's 12 founding member states. The treaty comes into force on 24 August 1949.

The day after the signing of the Treaty of Washington establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the Luxembourg Communist daily newspaper Zeitung vum Lëtzeburger Vollek deplores the Treaty as a warmongers’ pact.

On 5 April 1949, the Luxembourg newspaper Luxemburger Wort analyses the implications of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed the day before in Washington, on future East-West relations.

On 11 April 1948, in a radio broadcast, Pierre Dupong, Luxembourg Minister of State, underlines the importance of achieving European solidarity in order to put an end once and for all to armed conflict in Europe.

On 5 May 1949, in London, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom sign the Statute of the Council of Europe.

On 5 May 1949, at the signing of the Statute of the Council of Europe in London, the Luxembourg Foreign Minister Joseph Bech emphasises the need for the peoples of Europe to commit themselves to the unification of the Continent.

On 5 May 1949, in London, ten countries sign the Statute of the Council of Europe which aims to establish European cooperation in the political, economic, social, cultural, scientific, legal and administrative spheres. The Statute enters into force on 3 August 1949.

Diagram showing the organisation and operation of the Council of Europe according to the provisions of the Statute of the Council of Europe of 5 May 1949.

Functional Chart of the Council of Europe in 1950, when the organisation comprised 14 member States following the accession of the Federal Republic of Germany in July 1950 and after the establishment of a Joint Committee in August 1950.