On 21 July 1948, the International Committee of Movements for European Unity (ICMEU) questions Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Minister, on the United Kingdom's position concerning the creation of a European Assembly.

In August 1948, the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity sets down in a memorandum the efforts that it has been making for the past three months since the Congress of Europe in The Hague in order to persuade governments to establish a European Assembly.

On 28 August 1948, in an article in the Toulouse daily newspaper La Nouvelle République, Paul Ramadier, former French Prime Minister and Chairman of the Political Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague three months earlier, welcomes the action taken by the pro-European movements and the line adopted by the governments concerning the idea of a European Assembly.

On 28 August 1948, the French daily newspaper Le Monde depicts the United Kingdom’s reservations towards Europe, particularly with regard to the proposed European Assembly, and attempts to discover the reasons for such a guarded attitude.

On 7 September 1948, the British authorities express a number of doubts about the memorandum drawn up by the International Committee for the Coordination of European Movements (ICCEM) with a view to the establishment of a European Assembly.

On 18 October 1948, the French representative to the Standing Committee for the Brussels Treaty calls on all the delegations from the Five to work together for the establishment of a European Assembly.

On 26 November 1948, the British delegation on the Committee for the Study of European Unity, chaired in Paris by Édouard Herriot, proposes the creation of a Council of Europe which would consist of a Consultative Assembly and a Council of Ministers.

At the fourth session of the Consultative Council of the Brussels Treaty Powers, held on 27 and 28 January 1949, the Foreign Ministers of the five Powers agree on the establishment of a Council of Europe consisting of a ‘ministerial committee’ and of a ‘consultative body’.

On 5 February 1949, at the end of the fourth session of the Consultative Council of the Treaty of Brussels in London, the Germany weekly Rheinischer Merkur comments on the decision by the Foreign Ministers of the Five (Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) to establish a future Council of Europe, and outlines the difficulties involved in such an enterprise.

Following the deliberations of the Standing Committee of the Treaty of Brussels, its Secretary-General draws up a draft invitation to attend the preparatory conference of the Council of Europe, to be issued to the governments of Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Norway and Sweden.

Final version of the draft organisation of the Council of Europe, submitted by the Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the Treaty of Brussels on 2 February 1949.

On 28 March 1949, the British delegation participating in the negotiations of the Five on the establishment of a Council of Europe sends to its partners a preparatory note concerning the conduct and objectives of the final phase of their work.