In 1958, Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman became the first President
of the European Parliamentary Assembly (later the European Parliament)
In 1950, the Schuman Declaration proposed a joint coal and steel authority between France and West Germany, helping avert future conflict and leading to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, with his colleague Jean Monnet, a member of the French government, made history.
From left to right, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman in Luxembourg, 1953
The Six Founding Countries
- France
- West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany)
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Belgium
- Luxembourg
- France: Robert Schuman (Foreign Minister who proposed the plan) and Jean Monnet (political-economic adviser and architect of the plan).
- West Germany: Konrad Adenauer (first Chancellor of West Germany).
- Italy: Alcide De Gasperi (Prime Minister and Foreign Minister).
- Belgium: Paul-Henri Spaak (Prime Minister and prominent diplomat).
- The Netherlands: Johan Willem Beyen (Foreign Minister) and Sicco Mansholt (agricultural policy planner).
- Luxembourg: Joseph Bech (Prime Minister and Foreign Minister).
