Messina Conference

The delegations of the six participating countries were headed by Johan Willem Beyen (Netherlands), Gaetano Martino (Italy), Joseph Bech (Luxembourg), Antoine Pinay (France), Walter Hallstein (Germany), and Paul-Henri Spaak (Belgium).

The meeting was held at Messina (and partially in Taormina) at the request of Gaetano Martino, the Italian Foreign Minister, who was detained in Sicily because of the Regional Assembly elections.

In addition to the above-mentioned agenda, the meeting included consideration of the action programme to relaunch European integration.

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.

Johan Willem Beyen however proposed Paul-Henri Spaak, 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 European common market.