On 9 May 1950, in the " Salon de l'Horloge" of the Quai d'Orsay in Paris, Robert Schuman, French Minister for Foreign Affairs, made public before representatives of the world press a declaration by his government, in the preparation of which Jean Monnet played a decisive role. This declaration, also known as the Schuman Plan, aimed to bring together the coal and steel resources of former enemy nations to make new wars between them impossible. It marked the beginning of the policy of European integration and led to the foundation of the first of the European Communities, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).