On 15 August 1952, Walter Hallstein, State Secretary at the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), informs the representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany in The Hague, Brussels, Luxembourg, Paris and Rome that the establishment of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) is scheduled for early September. Meeting in Luxembourg, the Council is to be chaired by the representative of the FRG.

The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) takes the chair at the first meeting of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) held on 8, 9 and 10 September 1952. In this letter, dated 27 August, Walter Hallstein, State Secretary at the Foreign Office, informs Jean Monnet, President of the High Authority of the ECSC, that the invitations have been sent to the Ministers for Foreign and Economic Affairs of the Member States. He includes the proposals regarding the subjects to be considered during this meeting in an annex to his letter.

Provisional programme of 6 September 1952 for the first meeting of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers held on 8, 9 and 10 September.

List of the delegations present at the first meeting of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), held in Luxembourg from 8 to 10 September 1952.

On 8 September 1952, Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor and Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Walter Hallstein, Junior Foreign Affairs Minister, arrive at Luxembourg Town Hall to attend the first meeting of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers.

Minutes of the first meeting of the Council, held in Luxembourg from 8 to 10 September 1952, in the version submitted to the Council on 22 September 1952 and approved unanimously at the second meeting of the Council held on 1 and 2 December 1952.

On 8 September 1952, in Luxembourg, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, delivers the opening address at the ECSC Special Council of Minsters — having been appointed its first President on the basis of the alphabetical order of the names of the Member States — in which he outlines the Council’s objectives.

On 8 September 1952, Jean Monnet, President of the ECSC High Authority, replies to the opening address delivered by the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, who, as President of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers, inaugurates its first meeting.

Press release issued after the first meeting of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), held in Luxembourg from 8 to 10 September 1952.

Minutes of the second meeting of the Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), held in Luxembourg on 1 and 2 December 1952, in the version submitted to the Council on 16 December. One of the items on the agenda was the question of future ECSC levies.

Address delivered by Jean Monnet, President of the High Authority, at the meeting of the Special Council of Ministers of the ECSC held on 2 February 1953.

Note from the Secretariat of the Interim Committee for the Common Market and Euratom on the first meeting of the EEC and EAEC Councils, scheduled to be held on 25 January 1958 in Brussels.

Agenda for the inaugural meeting of the Council of the European Economic Community of 25 and 26 January 1958.

Agenda for the inaugural meeting of the Council of the European Atomic Energy Community of 25 and 26 January 1958.

List of participants at the inaugural meeting of the Councils of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), held in Brussels on 25 January 1958, in their capacity as representatives of the ECSC High Authority and of the EEC and Euratom Commissions.

Inaugural meeting of the Councils of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), held in the Palais des Académies in Brussels on 25 January 1958.

Minutes of the inaugural meeting of the Councils of the EEC and the EAEC, held in Brussels on 25 January 1958, approved on 25 February 1958 at the second meeting.

In his opening address at the inaugural meeting of the EEC and EAEC Councils, held on 25 January 1958 in Brussels, Victor Larock, Belgian Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Councils, emphasises the economic and social objectives of the Common Market and of Euratom and defines the two Communities as a step towards a future integrated European union.

In an address delivered at the inaugural meeting of the EEC and EAEC Councils, held on 25 January 1958 in Brussels, Paul Finet, President of the High Authority of the ECSC, notes that, despite the differences in their tasks and structures, the three Communities are working towards the same aim: European integration.

Address delivered by Walter Hallstein, President of the Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC), at the first meeting of the Councils of the EEC and the EAEC held in Brussels on 25 January 1958.

Note to the press on the first meeting of the Councils of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), held in Brussels on 25 January 1958.

The Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities is signed in Brussels on 8 April 1965 and enters into force on 1 July 1967.

During a speech made in 1966, Luxembourg Prime Minister Pierre Werner comments on the merging of the executives and the location of certain institutions in Luxembourg.

Diagram illustrating the merger of the executives that resulted from the entry into force on 1 July 1967 of the Treaty of 8 April 1965 establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities.

Council Decision 93/591/EC of 8 November 1993 concerning the name to be given to the Council following the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union.

This film, produced in 2004, gives an overview of the Council of the European Union. It outlines the composition, powers, operation and activities of the institution which represents the Member States of the European Union.