TheLondon and Paris Conferences were two related conferences held inLondon andParis during September–October 1954 to determine the status ofWest Germany. The talks concluded with the signing of theParis Agreements (Paris Pacts, orParis Accords[1]), which granted West Germany some sovereignty[a], ended theoccupation, and allowed its admittance toNATO.[1] Furthermore, both West Germany and Italy joined theBrussels Treaty[1] on 23 October 1954.[2] The Agreementswent into force on 5 May 1955.[2] The participating powers includedFrance, theUnited Kingdom,Belgium, theNetherlands,Luxembourg, West Germany,Italy,Canada, theUnited States, and remaining NATO members.[1]
Since the end ofWorld War II,West Germany had been occupied byAllied forces and lacked its own means of defense. On 23 July 1952, theEuropean Coal and Steel Community came into existence, bonding the member states economically. By 1951, fear of possibleSoviet aggression in Europe led to preparation of an ill-fatedEuropean Defense Community (EDC). EDC was a proposed joint Western European military force, at the time favored over admitting Germany to NATO. TheGeneral Treaty (German:Deutschlandvertrag) of 1952 formally named the EDC as a prerequisite of the end of Allied occupation of Germany. EDC was, however, rejected by theFrench National Assembly on August 30, 1954, and a new solution became necessary.[2]
At the London Conference, often called theNine-Power Conference (not to be confused with theNine Power Treaty), it was agreed that the occupying powers would make every effort to end the occupation.[3] The limits of German re-armament were also very important especially to France, which was still concerned with a powerful Germany.
Belgium was represented byPaul-Henri Spaak, Canada byLester B. Pearson, France byPierre Mendès-France, Germany byKonrad Adenauer, Italy byGaetano Martino, Luxembourg byJoseph Bech, the Netherlands byJan Willem Beyen, the United Kingdom byAnthony Eden, and the United States byJohn Foster Dulles.
The powers met again in Paris on October 20–23, in an intergovernmental conference followed by a NATO Council meeting, to put the decisions reached in London into formal declarations and protocols to existing treaties.[1] "Protocol No. I Modifying and Completing the Brussels Treaty" formally added West Germany and Italy to the Brussels Treaty, creating theWestern European Union (WEU), which, while not as broad or powerful as the previously proposed EDC, nevertheless was sufficient for theDeutschlandvertrag to come into force and therefore to end the occupation of West Germany and admit it as an ally in theCold War.
Altogether there were as many as twelve international agreements signed in Paris.[2] Protocol No. II committed the United Kingdom to maintain four divisions and theSecond Tactical Air Force in Europe.[4]
TheBonn–Paris conventions ended the occupation of West Germany and West Germany obtained "the full authority of a sovereign state" on 5 May 1955 (although "full sovereignty" was not obtained until theTwo Plus Four Agreement in 1990).[b] The treaty allowed Allied troops to remain in the country.
An agreement expanded theBrussels Treaty of 1948 to include West Germany and Italy, creating theWestern European Union. This agreement allowed West Germany to start a limited rearmament program though it banned development of certain weapons, such as large warships. It was signed by the Brussels Treaty countries (Belgium, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and by West Germany and Italy.
Another accord accepted West Germany into theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).[1]
The negotiations onSaar status, only between France and West Germany, were held on the night before the conference, on 19 October.[1] The territory had been essentially annexed by France after the war as a "protectorate" in an economic, customs and monetary union with France and with a government subordinate to a High Commissioner appointed by the French government. West Germany was keen to prevent further integration of the Saar with France and reincorporate the region into West Germany. France and West Germany negotiated an agreement under which the Saar would become a "European territory" and remain economically tied to France, but required a referendum of Saar residents on the new proposal. The1955 Saar Statute referendum took place on October 23, 1955 and residents rejected the Paris Agreement proposal by 2-1. This was taken as a sign that residents preferred reunion with Germany.[citation needed] On 27 October 1956[citation needed] theSaar Treaty officially made Saarland a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Since theend of World War II, mostsovereignEuropean countries have entered into treaties and thereby co-operated and harmonised policies (orpooled sovereignty) in an increasing number of areas, in theEuropean integration project or theconstruction of Europe (French:la construction européenne). The following timeline outlines the legal inception of theEuropean Union (EU)—the principal framework for this unification. The EU inherited many of its presentorganizations,institutions, and responsibilities from theEuropean Communities (EC), which were founded in the 1950s in the spirit of theSchuman Declaration.
| Legend: S: signing F: entry into force T: termination E: expiry de facto supersession Rel. w/ EC/EU framework: de facto inside outside |  European Union(EU) | [Cont.] | ||||||||||||||||
| European Communities(EC) | (Pillar I) | |||||||||||||||||
| European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or EURATOM) | [Cont.] | |||||||||||||||||
 / / / European Coal and Steel Community(ECSC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| European Economic Community(EEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Schengen Rules | European Community (EC) | |||||||||||||||||
| TREVI | Justice and Home Affairs(JHA,pillar III) | |||||||||||||||||
 / North Atlantic Treaty Organisation(NATO) | [Cont.] | Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters(PJCC,pillar III) | ||||||||||||||||
  Anglo-French alliance | [Defence armhanded toNATO] | European Political Co-operation (EPC) | Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP,pillar II) | |||||||||||||||
 Western Union (WU) |  / Western European Union (WEU) | [Tasks defined following the WEU's 1984reactivationhanded to theEU] | ||||||||||||||||
| [Social, cultural taskshanded toCoE] | [Cont.] | |||||||||||||||||
| Council of Europe(CoE) | ||||||||||||||||||
Entente Cordiale S: 8 April 1904 | Davignon report S: 27 October 1970 | European Council conclusions S: 2 December 1975 | ||||||||||||||||
