Map showing the successive venues for the negotiations on the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom): Messina, Venice and Val Duchesse (Brussels).
On 26 June 1956, in Brussels, Maurice Faure, Junior Minister in the Foreign Ministry and Head of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, discusses with Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference, the implications of the revival of European integration and the forthcoming diplomatic negotiations.
In 1956, after the summer recess, the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) inaugurate the work of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom at the Château de Val Duchesse in Brussels, under the presidency of Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak.
On 26 July 1956, Maurice Faure, French Junior Foreign Minister and Head of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, delivers an address to the heads of the other national delegations meeting at the Château de Val Duchesse in which he outlines the position of France on the establishment of a European Economic Community and of a European Atomic Energy Community.
In 1957, in response to events in Hungary and in the Suez Canal Zone, Alfred Müller-Armack, adviser to Ludwig Erhard, German Minister for Economic Affairs, speculates on whether the intergovernmental negotiations being conducted on the Common Market will enable Europe to assume its political responsibilities.
On 26 June 1956, in Brussels, the Heads of Delegation of the Six officially open the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom. From left to right, in the Grand Salon of the Belgian Foreign Ministry: Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Conference, Lodovico Benvenuti (Italy), Baron Jean-Charles Snoy et d’Oppuers (Belgium), Karl Friedrich Ophüls (Federal Republic of Germany), Maurice Faure (France), Johan Linthorst Homan (Netherlands) and Lambert Schaus (Luxembourg).
The Château de Val Duchesse in Auderghem, near Brussels, property of the Royal Trust, is the location for the work of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom and subsequently that of the Interim Committee.
On 19 September 1956, the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom submits to the other delegations its positions on the questions to be tabled to the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
On 24 September 1956, Max Kohnstamm, Secretary of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and General Secretary of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe, drafts a note in which he analyses the progress in the ongoing negotiations for the establishment of Euratom and the Common Market and outlines the most important issues that still need to be negotiated in Brussels.
On 12 October 1956, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, forwards to the Conference’s Committee of Heads of Delegation a memorandum in which he sums up the French and German memorandums regarding the establishment of a European Economic Community (EEC) and a European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
On 7 January 1957, on the margins of the diplomatic negotiations being conducted at the Château de Val Duchesse, the working party of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) draws up a memorandum on the progress of European revival and comments on the Euratom and Common Market projects.
On 18 January 1957, Gaetano Martino, Italian Foreign Minister, delivers an address to the Members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies in which he outlines the economic and political objectives of the negotiations conducted at the Château de Val Duchesse by the representatives of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) with a view to establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
At an extraordinary session on 18 January 1957, the Dutch Council of Ministers examines in detail the provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
On 19 January 1957, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool reviews the progress of the Val Duchesse negotiations at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom and emphasises, in particular, French demands for satisfaction in the agricultural sector.
At an extraordinary session on 21 January 1957, the Dutch Council of Ministers carries out a final examination of the provisions of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), two months before they are signed in Rome.
On 25 January 1957, the German weekly newspaper Rheinischer Merkur reviews the outcome of the negotiations held in Val Duchesse and outlines the final difficulties still to be resolved if a Common Market is to be established.
On 26 January 1957, the Milan daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera emphasises the implications, particularly for Italy, of the intergovernmental negotiations being held in Val Duchesse on the Common Market and Euratom.
On 27 January 1957, the conservative daily newspaper La Libre Belgique considers the proceedings of the Val Duchesse negotiations during the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, and highlights Belgium’s priorities concerning Europe.
On 28 and 29 January 1957, Raymond Bousquet, French Ambassador in Brussels, forwards to Christian Pineau, French Foreign Minister, two telegrams which set out the positions of the national delegations at the conference attended by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), held on 26, 27 and 28 January in Brussels.
On 28 January 1957, the Dutch liberal daily newspaper Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant reports on the Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Six on 26, 27 and 28 January in Brussels and asks the Dutch Parliament to clarify its priorities.
View of part of the Belgian delegation on 28 January 1957 in Val Duchesse for the negotiations of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom. From left to right: Albert Hupperts, Joseph Van Der Meulen (sitting behind) and Paul-Henri Spaak.
On 2 February 1957, Christian Pineau, French Foreign Minister, sends telegrams to the French Embassies in Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Luxembourg, Italy and the Netherlands, informing them of the decisions taken by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community, who met on 26, 27 and 28 January in Brussels in order to address the issues left unresolved by the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom.
On 3 February 1957, commenting on the drawing up of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera publishes an interview on the subject with Jean Monnet, President of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe (ACUSE), and René Pleven, former President of the French Council of Ministers.
On 6 February 1957, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel comments on the outcome of the Val Duchesse negotiations and sets out the difficulties still to be overcome in connection with the establishment of a common market between the Six.
On 9 February 1957, answering questions posed by the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera, Guy Mollet, President of the French Council of Ministers, emphasises the importance of the future Treaties establishing the European Economic Communities (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) for the future of European integration.
On 13 February 1957, during its debates on the Common Market and Euratom, the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) adopts a resolution in which it emphasises the importance of establishing a European supranational executive body and of rationalising relations between the institutions of the European Communities.
‘One, two, three.' On 17 February 1957, referring to the negotiations held in Val Duchesse by the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) on the Common Market and Euratom, the cartoonist, Fritz Behrendt, emphasises the role played by Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Conference, to revive European integration and lead the negotiations to a successful conclusion under the curious eye of US and Soviet observers.
On 29 March 1957, the Bulletin of the Press and Information Office of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) emphasises the efforts of the Representatives of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) at the Val Duchesse negotiations on the drawing up of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), signed on 25 March 1957 in Rome, and highlights the expectations of the German public with regard to a united Europe.
On 22 February 1957, the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique gives a tongue-in-cheek description of the experts of each of the national delegations who drew up the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) in Val Duchesse and who will most certainly play an important role in their future implementation.
On 24 February 1957, in the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique, Fernand Baudhuin, Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, examines the historical and economic implications of the future European Economic Community (EEC).
‘Yesterday like today — old tendencies versus new developments.’ On 28 February 1957, the German cartoonist, Wolfgang Hicks, illustrates the resurgent fears in Europe in the light of the prospect of change prompted by the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In March 1967, ten years after the Val Duchesse negotiations, Emanuele Gazzo, Editor-in-Chief of Agence Europe, looks back on the debates that took place during the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom.
In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the importance for the Val Duchesse negotiations of the preparatory work carried out in the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference under the chairmanship of Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister.
Personal accounts of the Val Duchesse negotiations
In January 1967, the French diplomat, Jacques Donnedieu de Vabres, former Secretary-General of the Interministerial Committee for European Economic Cooperation (SGCI), emphasises the issues at stake in the revival of European integration and describes the proceedings of the Val Duchesse negotiations.
In 1956, Ernst Albrecht, German attaché at the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), becomes secretary of the ‘Common Market’ group at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom.
In his memoirs, Alfred Müller-Armack, former Adviser to the German Minister for Economic Affairs, Ludwig Erhard, and member of the German Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, recalls the course of the negotiations between the Six at the Château de Val Duchesse.
In 1981, Pierre Pescatore, former Legal Adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Minister and member of the Drafting Group at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom at the Château de Val Duchesse, recalls the role of the Committee and the nature of its activities, including the drafting of the general provisions and the legal editing of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
At the conference held from 25 to 28 March 1987 in Rome to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), Pierre Uri, former Director of the ‘General Economy’ Department of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), recalls the circumstances surrounding his participation in the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom and outlines the proceedings of the Val Duchesse negotiations.
At the conference held from 25 to 28 March 1987 in Rome to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), Maurice Faure, former Junior Minister in the French Foreign Ministry and former Head of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, refers to the political situation in France at the time of the revival of European integration and praises the atmosphere and the working method of the Intergovernmental Conference.
In an interview conducted on 26 March 1997 in Brussels during the commemorative events held to mark the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), Jean-François Deniau, former member of the French delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes how the French delegation was organised and considers the political and economic situation in France at the time of the Val Duchesse negotiations.
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Legal Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, recalls the nature of the relationship that developed during the negotiations between the members of the Legal Group, also known as the Drafting Committee, and the Committee of Heads of Delegation.
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Luxembourg Delegation to the 1956–57 Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, recalls the nature of the relationship that developed during the negotiations between the members of the Common Market Committee, the Euratom Committee and the Drafting Committee.
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Legal Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, describes the composition and working methods of the Legal Group, also known as the ‘Drafting Committee’, responsible for laying down the general provisions and determining the legal form of the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Legal Committee at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, describes the allocation of tasks within this committee, also known as the ‘Drafting Committee’, responsible for laying down the general provisions and determining the legal form of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Luxembourg Delegation to the 1956–57 Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the organisation of these negotiations held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, with a view to the drafting of the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Luxembourg Delegation to the 1956–57 Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, describes the working atmosphere that prevailed in the ‘Drafting Committee' responsible for laying down the general provisions and determining the legal form of the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Luxembourg Delegation to the 1956–57 Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, recalls the leading figures who participated in the negotiations held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, on the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Luxembourg Delegation to the 1956–57 Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes the composition of part of the Luxembourg diplomatic delegation.
In this interview, Pierre Pescatore, former legal adviser to the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry and member of the Luxembourg Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes the international context to the negotiations held at the Château de Val Duchesse, Brussels, between 1956 and 1957 which resulted in the adoption of the Rome Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Hans-August Lücker, former adviser to Walter Hallstein and rapporteur on the Rome Treaties for the Bundestag in 1957, recalls the personality and working methods of Walter Hallstein, Junior Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and those of Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference, held in Val Duchesse, on the Common Market and Euratom.
In this interview, Hans-August Lücker, former adviser to Walter Hallstein, Junior Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and rapporteur on the Treaties of Rome for the Bundestag in 1957, recalls the attitude of the participants in the Intergovernmental Conference negotiations on the Common Market and Euratom who, in Val Duchesse, drew up the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Hubert Ehring, former Director of the Legal Service of the Secretariat of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, recalls the atmosphere and attitude of the members of the various national delegations during the Val Duchesse negotiations.
In this interview, Hubert Ehring, former Director of the Legal Service of the Secretariat of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, discusses the role of the Legal Group during the Val Duchesse negotiations.
In this interview, Hubert Ehring, former Director of the Legal Service of the Secretariat of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, discusses the Secretariat’s role and working methods during the Val Duchesse negotiations.
In this interview, Hubert Ehring, former Director of the Legal Service of the Special Council of Ministers of the Secretariat of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and member of the of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes the role played by Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, during the Val Duchesse negotiations.
In this interview, Hubert Ehring, former Director of the Legal Service of the Secretariat of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes the influence of the international context on the Val Duchesse negotiations that paved the way for the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Charles Rutten, former Secretary of the Netherlands Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, recalls the working atmosphere during the Val Duchesse negotiations on the revival of European integration.
In this interview, Charles Rutten, former Secretary of the Netherlands Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, emphasises the positions of the Six in Val Duchesse on the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).
In this interview, Charles Rutten, former Secretary of the Netherlands Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the way in which the Netherlands defined its position in relation to the challenges posed by European integration, recalling, in particular, the nature of the relationship between the Prime Minister, Willem Drees, and his Foreign Ministers, Johan Willem Beyen and Joseph Luns.
In this interview, André Dubois, former member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, describes the prevailing atmosphere between the various national delegations during the negotiations at the Château de Val Duchesse.
In this interview, André Dubois, former member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, emphasises the role played by Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister and President of the Conference, during the negotiations at the Château de Val Duchesse.
In this interview, André Dubois, former member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the positions of the Six in Val Duchesse with regard to the possible association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) with the future European Economic Community (EEC).
In this interview, André Dubois, former member of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the nature of the work carried out in Val Duchesse with regard to the establishment of a common customs tariff for the six Member States of the future European Economic Community (EEC).
In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the reservations held by the upper echelons of the French administration regarding the proposed European common market and discusses the method used by the Paris Government to overcome these reservations and formulate a common position.
In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, outlines the impact of the war in Algeria and of the Suez Crisis on the Val Duchesse negotiations and on France’s commitment to European integration.
In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, discusses the mindset of the members of the French Delegation and the impact of the war in Algeria on the Val Duchesse negotiations.
In this interview, Jean François-Poncet, former Secretary-General of the French Delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom, discusses the implications, particularly for France, of the Val Duchesse negotiations on the establishment of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
In this interview, Helmut von Verschuer recalls the negotiating directives and the proceedings of the negotiations in Val Duchesse on the common agricultural policy, in which he took part initially as representative of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and from March 1958 onwards as representative of the Commission of the European Economic Community.
At the conference held from 25 to 28 March 1987 in Rome to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), Giulio Guazzugli-Marini, former member of the Secretariat of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), recalls the institutional implication of the negotiations on the Rome Treaties, with particular regard to the allocation of powers and responsibilities between the Council of Ministers and the Commission.