On 17 March 1954, General Charles de Gaulle sends a letter to General Béthouart in which he expresses his opposition to the plan for a European Defence Community (EDC).
On 25 February 1953, General Charles de Gaulle holds a press conference in Paris during which he declares his support for cooperation between European States in the field of defence, whilst indicating his opposition to the establishment of the European Defence Community (EDC).
On 9 March 1954, after a visit to France, Belgian MP Pierre Wigny publishes an article in the daily newspaper La Nation belge in which he criticises the arguments of those opposed to the European Defence Community (EDC).
On 20 June 1956, as negotiations are held for a European Common Market, the French daily newspaper Le Monde publishes an article by François Walter which looks at the economic ideas behind the plan. The author regrets that the French public is not well informed of the ongoing negotiations and recommends the holding of a public debate as soon as possible so as to avoid another failure like that of the European Defence Community (EDC).
Le 18 août 1952, à l'occasion des débats sur la Communauté européenne de défense (CED), Paul Struye, sénateur catholique belge, s'interroge dans le quotidien La Libre Belgique sur le réarmement de l'Europe occidentale.
The Brussels Treaty as amended by the Protocol modifying and completing the Treaty that was originally signed on 17 March 1948 by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Belgium, the President of the French Republic, President of the French Union, Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, and His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas. The document presents the modified and completed version signed in Paris on 23 October 1954, which sees the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy acceding to the Treaty. The organisation established by the Treaty is renamed ‘Western European Union’ and the ‘Consultative Council’ becomes the ‘Council of Western European Union’.
On 1 September 1954, the Italian Communist daily newspaper L’Unità welcomes the rejection, the previous day, of the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC) by the French National Assembly.
On 31 August 1954, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera comments on the failure of the European Defence Community (EDC) and deplores the French National Assembly’s decision.
On 15 February 1951, the representatives of the Six meet in Paris for the opening of the conference on a European army. The photo shows Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Paul Van Zeeland, Belgian Foreign Minister, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, Walter Hallstein, German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Alcide De Gasperi, Italian Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, Dirk Stikker, Netherlands Foreign Minister, and Randolfo Pacciardi, Italian Defence Minister.
On 16 and 17 May 1952, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe debates British proposals whereby the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the future European Defence Community (EDC) and any other specialised European institutions which might be established would operate under the aegis of the Council of Europe (Eden Plan).
