In this anonymous note, officials at the French Foreign Office consider the political motivations and the economic consequences of the implementation of a system of international control for the Ruhr.

On 26 July 1949, Konrad Adenauer writes to Robert Schuman to warn him of the harmful consequences of dismantling German factories, as demanded by the Allies.

Map showing the Ruhr’s economic power, based on its mines and heavy industry.

‘… under protest from the French, on 10 November 1948 the Ruhr agreement is concluded … and passes into German trusteeship…’ On 13 November 1948, the German cartoonist Ernst Maria Lang comments on the Allied decision to give the Germans the right to settle the long-term question of ownership of the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr.

In its November–December 1948 issue, the Metz Communist weekly Le Patriote Mosellan harshly criticises the decision taken by the United States and the United Kingdom to give the Germans the right to settle the question of ownership of the Ruhr's steel and mining industries.

Law No 27, adopted by the Allied High Commission on 16 May 1950 in Bonn, relates to the reorganisation of the German coal and steel industries and regulates the system of ownership with the aim of prohibiting concentrations of economic power and industrial cartels.

On 20 August 1951, the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) submits its proposals relating to the future of the Deutsche Kohle-Verkaufs-Gesellschaft (DKV), the sole selling agency for Ruhr coal, which it would like to see changed rather than abolished.

On 20 October 1949, six months after the establishment of the International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR), the Allied High Commission for Germany promulgates the law on the privileges and immunities of the IAR.

On 17 January 1951, the French delegation to the Schuman Plan Conference speculates on the sustainability of the regime of ownership of the Ruhr mines and plants in the context of the future entry into force of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 16 June 1948, the periodical Soviet News condemns the conclusions of the Six-Power Conference held in London and deplores the agreement of principle which seeks to establish an International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR) so as to regulate coal and steel production in the area.