The
Messina Conference was held from 1 to 3 June 1955 at the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
city of Messina on the island of
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
. The conference of the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the
European Coal and Steel CommunityThe European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for European democracy and the modern-day developments of the European Union...
(ECSC) would lead to the creation of the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community was an international organisation that existed between 1958 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.It was...
in 1958. The delegations of the six participating countries were headed by Johan Willem Beyen (
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
),
Gaetano MartinoGaetano Martino was an Italian politician and university teacher.A native of Messina, Sicily, he was a member of Italian Liberal Party. Gaetano Martino was one of the participants of the Messina Conference in 1955, which would lead to the Treaty of Rome in 1957...
(
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
),
Joseph BechJoseph Bech was a Luxembourgian politician. He was the fifteenth Prime Minister of Luxembourg, serving for eleven years, from 16 July 1926 until 5 November 1937...
(
LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small, landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany...
),
Antoine PinayAntoine Pinay was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.-Life:...
(
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
),
Walter HallsteinWalter Hallstein was a German politician and professor.He was one of the key figures of European integration after World War II, becoming the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, serving from 1958 to 1967. He famously defined his position as "a kind of Prime...
(
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
), and
Paul-Henri SpaakPaul Henri Charles Spaak was a Belgian Socialist politician and statesman.-Early life:He was born in Schaerbeek to Paul Spaak and Marie Janson...
(
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
).
The
Messina Conference was held from 1 to 3 June 1955 at the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
city of Messina on the island of
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
. The conference of the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the
European Coal and Steel CommunityThe European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for European democracy and the modern-day developments of the European Union...
(ECSC) would lead to the creation of the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community was an international organisation that existed between 1958 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.It was...
in 1958. The delegations of the six participating countries were headed by Johan Willem Beyen (
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
),
Gaetano MartinoGaetano Martino was an Italian politician and university teacher.A native of Messina, Sicily, he was a member of Italian Liberal Party. Gaetano Martino was one of the participants of the Messina Conference in 1955, which would lead to the Treaty of Rome in 1957...
(
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
),
Joseph BechJoseph Bech was a Luxembourgian politician. He was the fifteenth Prime Minister of Luxembourg, serving for eleven years, from 16 July 1926 until 5 November 1937...
(
LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small, landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany...
),
Antoine PinayAntoine Pinay was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.-Life:...
(
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
),
Walter HallsteinWalter Hallstein was a German politician and professor.He was one of the key figures of European integration after World War II, becoming the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, serving from 1958 to 1967. He famously defined his position as "a kind of Prime...
(
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
), and
Paul-Henri SpaakPaul Henri Charles Spaak was a Belgian Socialist politician and statesman.-Early life:He was born in Schaerbeek to Paul Spaak and Marie Janson...
(
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
). Joseph Bech was chairman of the meeting.
The Foreign Ministers of the ECSC had to meet in order to nominate a member of the High Authority of the ECSC and to appoint its new President and Vice-Presidents for the period expiring on 10 February 1957. The meeting was held at Messina (and partially in
TaorminaTaormina is a comune and small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Messina, about midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a very popular tourist destination since the 19th century...
) at the request of
Gaetano MartinoGaetano Martino was an Italian politician and university teacher.A native of Messina, Sicily, he was a member of Italian Liberal Party. Gaetano Martino was one of the participants of the Messina Conference in 1955, which would lead to the Treaty of Rome in 1957...
, the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
Foreign Minister, who was detained in Sicily because of the Regional Assembly elections. They appointed
René MayerRené Mayer was a French Radical politician of the Fourth Republic who served briefly as Prime Minister during 1953...
as President of the High Authority to replace
Jean MonnetJean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet is regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity. Never elected to public office, Monnet worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist.-Early years:Monnet was born in Cognac, Charente, into a...
. The ministers also reappointed the Belgian,
Albert CoppéAlbert Coppé was a Belgian and European politician and economist. He was a founding member of the CDV party and served in the European Commission as Commissioner for Social Affairs, Transport & Budget under the Malfatti & Mansholt Commissions...
, and the German,
Franz EtzelFranz Etzel was a German politician for the CDU. From 1949 to 4 January 1953 and from 1957 to 1967 Etzel was member of the German Bundestag. From 1957 to 1961 he was Minister of Finance....
, as Vice-Presidents of the College.
In addition to the above mentioned agenda, the meeting included consideration of the action programme to relaunch European integration. In August 1954 the plans had collapsed to create a
European Political CommunityThe European Political Community was proposed in 1952 as a combination of the existing European Coal and Steel Community and the proposed European Defence Community...
and a common defence force, the
European Defence CommunityThe European Defence Community was a plan proposed in 1950 by René Pleven, the French President of the Council , in response to the American call for the rearmament of West Germany...
, as a substitute for the national armies of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and the three
BeneluxThe Benelux is a union in Western Europe that comprises three neighboring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg , which lie in the north western European region between France and Germany...
countries, when France refused to ratify the Treaty. The six ECSC countries then turned their attention to the idea of a
customs unionA customs union is a is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas...
, which was elaborated at Messina. The final resolution of the conference, largely reflecting the point of view of the three Benelux countries, formed the basis for further work to relaunch European integration. The Benelux countries in their
BeNeLux memorandumThe BeNeLux memorandum of 1955 was drafted by the three BeNeLux countries on 18 May 1955 as a means to reviving European integration on the basis of a general common market.-Background:...
proposed a revival of European integration on the basis of a common market and integration in the transport and atomic energy sectors.
At first the name of
Paul van ZeelandPaul Guillaume van Zeeland was a Belgian lawyer, economist, Catholic politician and statesman.He was born in Soignies....
, former Belgian Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, was mentioned to head the committee which was to work out a proposal. Johan Willem Beyen however proposed
Paul-Henri SpaakPaul Henri Charles Spaak was a Belgian Socialist politician and statesman.-Early life:He was born in Schaerbeek to Paul Spaak and Marie Janson...
, who was entrusted, on 18 June, with the production of a report at an
Intergovernmental Committee in order to evaluate the option of a sectoral integration or the step-by-step establishment of a
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an common market. The
Spaak ReportThe Spaak report or Brussels Report on the General Common Market, was the report drafted by the Spaak Committee in 1956. The Intergovernmental Committee, headed by Paul-Henri Spaak presented its definitive report on 21 April 1956 to the six Governments of the Member States of the European Coal and...
of the
Spaak CommitteeThe Spaak Committee was an Intergovernmental Committee set up by the Foreign Ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community as a result of the Messina Conference of 1955. The Spaak Committee started its work on 9 July 1955 and ended on 20 April 1956, when the Heads of...
and the subsequent
Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and EuratomThe Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom was held in Brussels, it started on 26 June 1956 with a session in the Grand Salon of the Belgian Foreign Ministry. The negotiations went on at the Castle of the Valley of the Duchess in Auderghem and would continue until March 1957...
which was held at the
Castle of the Valley of the DuchessThe Castle of the Valley of the Duchess is a former priory situated in the municipality of Auderghem in the Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. The castle is owned by the Belgian Royal Trust....
would lead to the Treaties of Rome in 1957 and the formation of the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community was an international organisation that existed between 1958 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.It was...
and Euratom in 1958.
Source