The Brussels Conference (11 and 12 February 1956)
The Brussels Conference
The Brussels Conference
TexteThe Brussels Conference (11 and 12 February 1956)
Preparatory instructions for the French delegation to the Brussels Conference (1956)
TexteThis document from 1956, probably January, outlines the instructions for the French delegation ahead of the negotiations for the Common Market and Euratom due to take place at the Brussels Conference on 11 and 12 February 1956.
Telegram from Christian de Margerie to Christian Pineau (Bonn, 10 February 1956)
TexteOn 10 February 1956, Christian de Margerie, French Chargé d’Affaires to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), forwards to Christian Pineau, French Foreign Minister, a telegram in which he sets out the position of the West German authorities on the eve of the conference to be attended by the Six in Brussels on the proposals for a Common Market and Euratom.
Draft minutes of the Brussels Conference (11–12 February 1956)
TexteOn 11 and 12 February 1956, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) meet in Brussels to draw up an initial assessment of the work of the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference.
List of the Delegations at the Brussels Conference (11 February 1956)
TexteComposition of the Delegations of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) who participated in the Brussels Conference on the Common Market and Euratom on 11 and 12 February 1956.
Press release by the Foreign Ministers of the Six (Brussels, 12 February 1956)
TexteOn 11 and 12 February 1956, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) meet in Brussels in order to review the progress of the work on the proposed Common Market and Euratom. Following their meeting, they notify their conclusions to the press.
Note from the Quai d’Orsay on the Brussels Conference (Paris, 15 February 1956)
TexteOn 15 February 1956, the Economic Cooperation Service of the French Foreign Ministry draws up a note outlining the outcome of the Conference held on 11 and 12 February in Brussels, which was attended by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
Note from the Quai d’Orsay on the establishment of the Common Market Study Committee (Paris, 23 February 1956)
TexteOn 23 February 1956, following the Conference attended by the Six in Brussels on 11 and 12 February, and in the face of French reservations about the Common Market, the Services of the Quai d’Orsay call for the establishment of a committee composed of specialists to be responsible for carrying out a technical study on the Common Market.
Press coverage
‘A dangerous meeting’ from L’Humanité (9 February 1956)
TexteOn 9 February 1956, on the eve of the conference of Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) on European revival, held in Brussels, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité deplores the dangers of the future atomic energy pool.
'European integration discussed in Brussels' from Il nuovo Corriere della Sera (12. Februar 1956)
TexteOn 12 February 1956, at a meeting between the Foreign Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Brussels, the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera reports on the discussions on the revival of European integration.
‘The “revival” of European integration’ from La Libre Belgique (20 February 1956)
TexteIn the edition of the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique published on 20 February 1956 following the Conference attended by the Six in Brussels, Paul Struye, Belgian Catholic Senator and Member of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), analyses the question of the revival of European integration and the debates on the principle of supranationality.
'After the Conference of the Six on Euratom' from L'information (14 February 1956)
TexteOn 14 February 1956, the French daily newspaper L’Information reports on the conference, held in Brussels on 12 and 13 February 1956 and attended by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), on the future European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
‘Without Belgium’s uranium’ from Der Spiegel (22 February 1956)
TexteOn 22 February 1956, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel comments on the various positions taken on the proposed European Atomic Community at the Brussels Conference between the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and emphasises Jean Monnet’s actions on the eve of the meeting.
‘Euratom and the Common Market’ from Le Monde (14 February 1956)
TexteOn 14 January 1956, the French daily newspaper Le Monde focuses on the difficulties faced by the Foreign Ministers of the Six in implementing the solutions considered in Brussels by the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference and chaired by Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister.
‘Let the Europeans be counted!’ from La Relève (18 février 1956)
TexteOn 18 February 1956, reporting on the outcome of the Brussels Conference between the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the Belgian Catholic weekly journal La Relève provides a half-humorous assessment of the ongoing work of the Intergovernmental Conference established by the Messina Conference and highlights, in particular, the implications of the way in which Euratom is to be established.
The role of the trade unions
Note from the International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions on European economic integration (14 February 1956)
TexteOn 14 February 1956, two days after the meeting in Brussels of the six Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ICCTU) reviews the progress of the work being carried out by the Spaak Committee.
André Renard, ‘The social bases of a European revival’ from Synthèses (March 1956)
TexteIn March 1956, André Renard, Deputy General Secretary of the Belgian General Federation of Labour (FGTB) and Chairman of the Consultative Committee of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), publishes an article in the Brussels journal Synthèses in which he criticises the working methods of the Spaak Committee and emphasises the need for the trade unions in the Six to be closely involved in the European revival process and the establishment of a common market.