On 30 August 1954, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool expresses its fears that the French National Assembly will reject the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 4 October 1954, after the French National Assembly refuses to ratify the Treaty on the European Defence Community (EDC), the Dutch daily newspaper Het Vrije Volk speculates on the question of European defence.

On 2 September 1954, the Belgian Communist daily newspaper Le Drapeau rouge expresses its satisfaction at the French National Assembly's rejection of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 31 August 1954, the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant expresses the disappointment felt in the Netherlands following the failure of the proposed European Defence Community (EDC).

On 2 September 1954, Robert Als, Luxembourg Ambassador to Paris, sends a letter to Luxembourg Prime Minister Joseph Bech in which he reports on discussions with François Seydoux, Director of the French Foreign Ministry’s European Department, and Alexandre Parodi, General Secretary of the French Foreign Ministry, on the result of the French vote on the EDC.

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 22 October 1954, at a meeting in Brussels, the North Atlantic Council adopts a resolution in which it welcomes the extension of the Brussels Treaty to include the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy, the cooperation being established between Western European Union (WEU) and NATO and the decision taken by the US, Canadian and British Governments to continue to station their troops on the European mainland.

On 22 October 1954, the North Atlantic Council adopts a resolution which enthusiastically welcomes the declaration made on 3 October by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the corresponding declaration made by France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On 22 October 1954, in Brussels, the North Atlantic Council adopts a resolution which seeks to enhance the collective defence system in Europe, to step up the integration of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces and to increase the powers and responsibilities of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).