On 17 April 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the first draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 17 April 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the second draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

In late April 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the third draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 26 April 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the fourth draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 27 April 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the fifth draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 28 April 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the sixth draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 28 April 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the seventh draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 4 May 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the eighth draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 6 May 1950, Jean Monnet and his close colleagues draw up the ninth and final draft of what will become the Schuman Declaration.

On 9 May 1950, the declaration made in the Salon de l’Horloge at the French Foreign Ministry by the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, marks the decisive starting point for European integration.

On 9 May 1950, staff of Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet put the finishing touches to the explanatory notes for the press on the Schuman Declaration, particularly regarding the anti-cartel aspect of the future coal and steel pool.

On 9 May 1950, the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, invites Germany and other interested European states to place their iron and steel production under the authority of a supranational European institution. As Schuman’s address could not be recorded on 9 May 1950, the Minister had to take part in a re-enactment of the event for posterity.

On 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, proposes to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and to other European countries that their coal and steel resources be pooled in a common European organisation. As it could not be recorded on 9 May 1950, Schuman’s address had to be given again shortly afterwards so that it could be recorded for posterity.

On 20 June 1950, in the Salon de l’Horloge at the French Foreign Ministry in Paris, Robert Schuman (standing, centre), French Foreign Minister, opens the intergovernmental negotiations for the implementation of the Schuman Plan. This photo is generally used to illustrate the press conference of 9 May 1950, at which no photographs were taken.

‘The pride of the inventor: Let’s hope that the thing develops better than the safety pins.’ After the declaration of 9 May 1950, German cartoonist Klaus Pielert emphasises the importance of the new Franco-German partnership at the heart of the Schuman Plan. The French Foreign Minister is trying to restore ties between France and Germany, and hopes that his plan will be more effective than the Maginot Line,. This system of fortifications built during the 1920s and 1930s in eastern and north-eastern France was intended to protect the country from further German invasion and buy the time needed to mobilise the French troops.

‘Oh! If you only knew my poo-oo-oo-oo-ool!’ The French cartoonist Sennep portrays Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, as a star of the music hall proposing that the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and other European states place their coal and steel resources within a joint European organisation.

On 12 May 1950, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the origins of the declaration made on 9 May 1950 by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman.

On 10 May 1955, on the fifth anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, the former French Foreign Minister gives an address in Strasbourg in which he recalls the beginnings of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and outlines the future prospects for the European integration process.

On 9 May 1958, journalist Roger Massip recalls the declaration made by Robert Schuman on 9 May 1950 and describes the origins of the coal and steel pool. He particularly emphasises the role in events played by Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board.

A colleague of Jean Monnet and a firsthand witness of Robert Schuman’s Declaration in the Salon de l’Horloge of the French Foreign Ministry in Paris, François Fontaine describes the events that took place.

In an article published in the French daily newspaper Le Monde on the 25th anniversary of the Declaration made on 9 May 1950, Pierre Uri, former colleague of Jean Monnet, recalls the preparations for the Schuman Plan.

In May 1950, in an address inspired by Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, proposes the pooling of coal and steel resources in France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in an organisation open to the other countries of Europe.

In 1985, the institutions of the Community adopted 9 May as Europe Day in celebration of the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950.

In this interview, Jacques-René Rabier, Head of Jean Monnet’s Private Office at the French National Planning Board from 1947 to 1952, discusses the section on joint development in Europe and Africa in the declaration made on 9 May 1950 in the Salon de l’Horloge at the Quai d’Orsay in Paris by Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister.