7-10 May 1948: The Hague Congress

Inspired by the desire to promote unification of the continent, different pro-European movements met with politicians in The Hague for a gathering presided over by Winston Churchill. In 1946, Churchill had given a rousing speech in favour of the United States of Europe. As a result of this congress, the European Movement was founded on the 25th of October in Brussels. The movement would provide several servants to the European idea.

April 16th 1948: Creation of the OEEC

Three years after the end of the war in Europe, the United States decided to give massive financial aid to those countries who wanted it in order to finance their reconstruction. This was known as the Marshall Plan. The Organisation for European Economic Cooperation, with headquarters in Paris, was responsible for the distribution of American aid.  In 1961, it changed its name to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Expanded to the entire developed world, today the OECD has 30 members.

April 4th 1949: The birth of NATO

With the Treaty of Brussels, signed in March 1948, the United States guaranteed the security of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. One year later, five other European countries joined the ‘Brussels five’ to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – a military alliance against the Soviet threat. The Federal Republic of Germany joined in 1955 following the failure of the European Defence Community. Today, NATO has 26 members between Europe and North America.

May 5th 1949: Creation of the Council of Europe

In the wake of The Hague Congress, European governments created the Council of Europe which led, one year later, to the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. Based in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe is responsible for a considerable body of legal work, particularly with regard to human rights. However, it played a minor role in the unification of the continent. The Council's limits lay in how it functions as the necessity for agreement among all members was often an obstacle.
    

May 9th 1950: The Schumann declaration

On the 9th of May 1950, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Robert Schumann, gave a speech in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Paris. In this speech, he made public Jean Monnet’s idea to unify coal and steel production under a supranational High Authority. By pooling the resources necessary for arms, the Schumann plan aimed to prevent another war between France and Germany. It was a way for West Germany, under Konrad Adenauer, to anchor itself in the West.

April 18th 1951: Signing of the Treaty of Paris establishing the ECSC

Born of the Schumann declaration, the European Coal and Steel Community brought Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg together.  By sharing their production of coal and steel, France and Germany chose solidarity of interests over rivalry and resentment – and this only five years after the end of the war. Another innovation of the ECSC was that this organisation opted for supranational governance moving away from the intergovernmental methods that had been used before.

April 30th 1954: France rejects the EDC

The French National Assembly refused to ratify the treaty on the European Defence Community which had been signed on the 27th of May 1952 by René Pleven and the French government. The EDC never got started. Built on the ECSC model, the EDC aimed to rearm Europe, including Germany, under common command. The short-lived reprieve of the Cold War and public sensitivity to rearming Germany account for this refusal. This explains why European military is still developed under the aegis of NATO.

June 1955: The Messine Conference

Learning the lessons of the failed EDC, the governments of six ECSC member countries decided to pursue European integration in the economic sphere. They entrusted a committee, presided over by Paul-Henri Spaak, with the job of studying the possibility of creating a common European market.  The relaunch of European construction that was decided on at Messine (Italy) led to the signing of the Treaties of Rome two years later.

Last update: Feb 21st, 2010