Bech-Bodson Ministry
[1] Dupong had chosen a preferred successor for himself: Pierre Werner, who joined the government as Minister for Finances and the Armed Forces.
[1] Joseph Bech, who had the longest government experience, became Prime Minister, while also taking over the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture.
"[2] The French National Assembly's refusal on 30 August 1954 to ratify the treaty establishing the European Defence Community, seemed initially to block the process of integration.
[2] However, the danger that after the failure of the EDC, France and Germany would lead their own policy caused the Benelux countries to retake the initiative in the European project.
[2] At the negotiations of Val-Duchesse, which prepared the path for the Treaty of Rome, the Luxembourgish government sent a small delegation led by the former minister Lambert Schaus.
[2] Its small population and the backwardness of its farming industry led it to demand special treatment which provoked the irritation of other countries.
[2] Luxembourg feared that in a common market, Luxembourgish agriculture, which had benefited from protectionist measures since the Zollverein, would be devastated by foreign competition.
[2] In addition, the free circulation of people inside the European Community risked increasing in an uncontrolled manner the number of foreigners in Luxembourg, who already constituted 11% of the population and 27% of the workforce in 1956.
[3] The other clause required that the regulations of the Commission concerning free circulation of workers take account of the “particular demographic situation” of Luxembourg.
[3] Luxembourg had only received its recognition as a sovereign state, as a full member of the international community, in the course of the Second World War and at the cost of heavy sacrifice.
[3] It is not clear if it missed a historic opportunity, since in opting for decentralisation, it was better able to defend its status as the location of the ECSC in the face of Brussels's and Strasbourg's candidacies, while obtaining compensation for the loss of parts that were integrated in the new common market.
[4] The constitutional revisions of 27 July, 25 October and 2 November 1956 uniformly changed the term of office of Deputies to five years, and added Article 49, which allowed the transfer of sovereignty to international institutions.
[5] The government was keen to pacify feelings and re-establish national unity, and restarted discussions about an amnesty plan from April 1954.
[5] The law of 12 January 1955 wiped the slate clean on actions against the external security of the State committed by Luxembourgers, and instituted clemency measures relative to administrative purges.
[5] In the immediate post-war period, the work of reconstruction had allowed the state to develop powerful means of intervention in the national economy.
