The process toward European unity had come to a virtual standstill after the failure of the EDC and EPC Treaties to be realised. The US too were showing disillusionment with the idea and when David Bruce resigned in January 1955, he was not replaced by Walton Butterworth until 1956, when the movement for European unification had its relaunch. Britain saw in this vacumn the opportunity to put forward its own blueprint for Europe, Foreign Minister Eden proposed the integration of the Schuman Plan with the Council of Europe, this Monnet found to be completely unacceptable, their second proposal for a free-trade area, including the six as a single unit with other OEEC countries who wished to join, this too was rejected not only by Monnet and his followers but also by Dulles. In fact just prior to the Messina Conference in early June 1955, the State Department and US representatives in Europe agreed that a united Europe should be built on the basis of the supranational approach, as the WEU established in 1954 didn't offer the same possibilities. In October1955 the Action Committee for the US of Europe became a reality with the aim of establishing an European pool for the peaceful use of atomic energy. By 1955 Monnet had concluded that Euratom was vital to European Integration. The creation of a multinational programme among the six devoted to the peaceful uses of atomic energy would be the decisive step towards European unity especially after the failure of EDC. At the Messina Conference, June 1955, the ECSC Council of Ministers formally agreed to discuss preliminary plans for a multilateral organisation that would integrate European Atomic Energy development. Because the ideas behind Euratom were new, there was no effective lobby against it which thus gave it a great chance of success as the answer to the European coal shortage.

The originals are held in various Archives in Europe and in the USA

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