96. Editorial Note
Between June 1 and 3, the Foreign Ministers of the six ECSC countries met at Messina, Italy, to discuss further integration efforts. The Ministers—Antoine Pinay of France, Walter Hallstein of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gaetano Martino of Italy, Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium, Johan W. Beyen of the Netherlands, and Joseph Bech of Luxembourg—issued a communiqué at the conclusion of the conference which called for further European integration in the fields of transport, power, communications, trade, and atomic energy. To accomplish these goals, the Ministers appointed an Intergovernmental Committee, headed by Spaak, to study the problems raised by these proposals, prepare drafts of treaties or agreements, and report back to the Ministers by October 1, 1955, at the latest. For text of the resolution adopted at Messina, see Royal Institute of International Affairs, Documents on International Affairs, 1955 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1958), pages 163–166.