Circular from Baron Hervé de Gruben, Secretary-General in the Belgian Foreign Ministry, setting out the stance taken by Belgium on the French plan for a European army.
On 26 July 1951, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro announces that, after four months of discussions, European negotiators have at last found common ground on the issue of a European army.
On 25 August 1951, the German Federal Government drafts a memorandum emphasising the urgent need to make progress on the fundamental issues associated with the establishment of the European Defence Community (EDC) and setting out the points on which an agreement in principle has been secured.
On 17 December 1951, following the Strasbourg Conference attended by the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Walter Hallstein, German State Secretary, outlines the various points for negotiation with regard to the establishment of a European Defence Community (EDC).
In this confidential note addressed to Paul van Zeeland, Belgian Foreign Minister, Robert Silvercruys, Belgian Ambassador in Washington, describes the impatience of US senior officials at the delay in implementing the French plan for a European army.
On 3 January 1952, David Bruce, US Ambassador to Paris, sends a telegram to the US Department of State in Washington outlining the progress of European negotiations on the establishment of a common army.
On 4 February 1952, a report of the Paris Conference on the European Defence Community (EDC) project details the general objectives and principles of the future EDC and reviews the proposed solutions in the military, institutional and financial fields.
On 30 April 1952, the Luxembourg legation to the Conference on the Organisation of a European Defence Community drafts a note on the particular situation of Luxembourg with regard to the provision of its military forces within the EDC.