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The idea of convening a European assembly first arose at the Hague Congress in 1948, that great gathering of post-war opinion chaired by Sir Winston Churchill. Within months, France and Belgium had submitted proposals to the other three Brussels Treaty powers, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, for an assembly with a consultative role, responsible for representing the views of the European public, consisting of representatives appointed by national parliaments and adopting resolutions by a majority. But Britain was cautious, preferring a ministerial committee accompanied by parliamentary delegations and other experts.
In order to reconcile these positions, a Committee for the Study of European Unity was formed, chaired by the President of the French National Assembly Edouard Herriot, which met in Paris from November 1948 to January 1949. The French and British Foreign Ministers, Robert Schuman and Ernest Bevin, eventually reached a compromise, involving the setting-up of a ministerial committee with the power to take decisions, and a consultative assembly whose members were to be appointed in accordance with their own government’s procedures.
The five invited Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Norway and Sweden to join them in a Council of Europe, and on 5 May 1949 the new organisation was signed into existence with ten member states, and Strasbourg designated as its seat. Two months later, on 8 August, the Committee of Ministers held its first meeting in Strasbourg, when Greece and Turkey became members. Two days later it was the turn of the long-awaited Assembly.
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