On 5 July 1955, the French Foreign Ministry draws up a confidential document in which it sets out its general instructions to the French Delegation participating in Brussels in the work of the Intergovernmental Committee set up by the Messina Conference.

On 9 July 1955, Walter Hallstein, State Secretary at the German Foreign Office, delivers an address to the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference in which he sets out the position of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on the implementation of the decisions adopted ten days earlier by the Six in Messina.

On 9 July 1955, Jean Rivière, French Ambassador in Brussels, forwards to Antoine Pinay, French Foreign Minister, a letter in which he outlines the initial decisions taken by the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference.

On 10 July 1955, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro outlines the role of the Intergovernmental Committee, chaired by the Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak, set up in connection with European revival.

On 19 July 1955, in the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Ludwig Erhard, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), sets out his idea of an efficient trade policy for Europe.

On 23 July 1955, on the margins of the work of the Spaak Committee on the European revival, the French Ambassador to the Netherlands, Jean-Paul Garnier, sends a telegram to French Foreign Minister Christian Pineau in which he outlines the views exchanged during a dinner at the Belgian Embassy. He describes the optimism and satisfaction of the Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak and his Dutch counterpart Johan Willem Beyen, who are very pleased with the atmosphere and mood in which the work of the various delegations is being conducted.

On 4 August 1955, the German Franz Etzel, Vice-President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), analyses the scope of the work of the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference which recently began in Brussels.

On 6 August 1955, the Netherlands delegation to the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference sends a report to the government in The Hague on the work being carried out in Brussels by the Spaak Committee.

On 21 October 1955, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister, outlines to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe the meaning and the political scope of his task as Chairman of the Intergovernmental Committee responsible for laying the foundations for the drafting of the EEC and Euratom Treaties.

On 25 October 1955, the Luxembourg Ambassador to Belgium, Lambert Schaus, sends his Foreign Minister Joseph Bech a series of documents given to him by the Belgian Foreign Ministry concerning the preparations for the Common Market within the Spaak Committee. This document, prepared on 18 October, sets out the position of the Belgian delegation on the arrangements for the establishment of a Common Market, particularly with regard to the customs union, governance bodies, the scope of free movement and measures for the harmonisation of the economic systems of the Six.

On 25 October 1955, the Luxembourg Ambassador to Belgium, Lambert Schaus, sends his Foreign Minister Joseph Bech a series of documents given to him by the Belgian Foreign Ministry concerning the preparations for the Common Market within the Spaak Committee. This document in particular, prepared on 19 October, outlines the views of the Belgian delegation and the differences of opinion on the Common Market between the French and Belgian delegations to the Spaak Committee.

In a note dated 27 October 1955, the Intergovernmental Committee describes the agreement in principle that has been secured on the arrangements for the establishment of a Common Market between the Six. This document gives a broad outline of the stages identified for the creation of a customs union that would be compatible with the GATT.

On 3 November 1955, Lambert Schaus, Luxembourg Ambassador to Brussels, sends a letter to the Luxembourg Prime Minister, Joseph Bech, in which he sets out the outcome of the work of the specialised commissions set up by the Intergovernmental Committee.

On 7 November 1955, the Netherlands Council of Ministers debates a note from the French Delegation on the work of the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference.

On 2 December 1955, the Netherlands delegation to the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference sends a report to the government in The Hague on the work being carried out in Brussels by the Spaak Committee.

On 20 December 1955, the French Federalist Movement sets out its point of view on the various plans for the revival of European integration.

In 1956, in an article in La voix fédéraliste, Luxembourger Christian Calmes, Secretary-General of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and Secretary-General of the Intergovernmental Committee created by the Messina Conference, outlines the major stages in the process of European revival and focuses on the two aims of establishing European cooperation in the nuclear field and creating a common market.

In this note dated 5 January 1956, the cooperation service in the Directorate for Economic and Financial Affairs within the French Foreign Ministry outlines the origins and structure of the committees which prepared the texts that will serve as a basis for negotiations on the common market, nuclear energy and transport. The note gives details of any outstanding issues in each area and states the positions of the participants in the negotiations.

On 6 February 1956, following a conversation with Paul-Henri Spaak, Jean Rivière, French Ambassador to Belgium, forwards to Christian Pineau, French Foreign Minister, a telegram in which he sets out the Belgian Foreign Minister’s position on the work of the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference and his position on British reservations about the revival of European integration.

On 13 March 1956, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister, makes a statement to the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in which, emphasising the importance of a Common Market based on a customs union between the Six, he gives a progress report on the work of the Intergovernmental Committee, which he chairs, set up in connection with the revival of European integration.

On March 15, 1956, Lambert Schaus, Ambassador of Luxembourg in Brussels, addresses to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Prime Minister, a letter in which he explains the progress of the Spaak Committee's work and gives an assessment of the working method employed. The note also details the issues of particular concern to Luxembourg and the points on which the legitimate and vital interests of the country are at stake.

On 24 March 1956, the Information Service of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) High Authority publishes a note on the session held by the ECSC Parliamentary Assembly on 16 March 1956 in Brussels on the theme of European revival. During this session, the Assembly of the Six expressed its political support for the ongoing negotiations between experts meeting under the leadership of Paul-Henri Spaak. The note identifies a convergence of views in political circles on the matters under negotiation.

On 26 March 1956, the economic cooperation service of the General Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs within the French Foreign Ministry drafts a note for the private office of the State Secretary which analyses the repercussions of the possible establishment of a European Common Market on the various sectors of French industry. The note excludes the impact on industry in the overseas territories, whose status in terms of trade has not yet been defined.

In this note dated 30 March 1956, the economic cooperation service of the General Directorate of Economic and Financial Affairs within the French Foreign Ministry sets out the options open to France in terms of economic integration. The French Government should take account of the potential advantages of European integration and assess the acceptability of the terms that it is imposing on its partners in terms of a transitional period, a compensation fund and the integration of the overseas territories.

This note from the French Foreign Ministry dated 7 May 1956 outlines the development of France’s position in the negotiations on the European common market, reproducing memorandums drawn up during the various stages of the negotiations. The central theme of this summary is the need to clarify the specific form that the common market might take and to what extent the plan is acceptable for the French Government.

In 2003, Jean Poorterman, former Deputy Head of Paul-Henri Spaak’s Private Office, describes the prevailing atmosphere in Val Duchesse and in the Belgian Foreign Ministry between 1955 and 1956 when the Spaak Committee and the Intergovernmental Conference were working on the Common Market and Euratom.

In this interview, Charles Rutten, former member of the Netherlands Delegation to the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference, outlines the procedures adopted by the Spaak Committee with a view to the drawing up of a report on the establishment of a European Common Market.