On 27 October 1956, in Luxembourg, Foreign Ministers Heinrich von Brentano of the Federal Republic of Germany and Christian Pineau of France signed the Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the Settlement of the Saar Question. The German and French texts are equally authentic. The instrument has 97 articles, 30 annexes and an exchange of letters. It is not the European Saar Statute, rejected by referendum on 23 October 1955.

The preamble aims to stop the Saar question from remaining a cause of disagreement between the two States. Article 1: France agrees that the territorial scope of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic shall extend to the Saarland from 1 January 1957. Federal law is introduced as provided in the Treaty, subject to a transitional period during which the Saarland and France remain a single customs and monetary area under Chapter II. Article 2: no one shall be prejudiced for past attitudes on the Saar question; the details are in Annex 1, on the protection of persons.

Article 3: the transitional period ends at the latest on 31 December 1959; the two governments fix and publish the exact date by mutual agreement. Article 4: the French franc remains legal tender in the Saarland; French rules on the franc remain in force. Article 5 allows Saarland coins of the same face values as French coins. Article 12 keeps French customs, foreign-trade and exchange-control law in force.

Article 13: at international conferences and organisations, France represents the Saarland in matters with a direct effect on customs and currency. French agreements with third States in those fields apply to the Saarland during the transition. Article 15 leaves taxation on Saarland legislation, with Bonn’s consent, but keeps French indirect taxes. Article 39 leaves navigation on the Saar free for ships registered at Saarbrücken, Perl and in France.

Article 78 requires the new holder of the Saarland coal mines and the Houillères du Bassin de Lorraine to conclude a lease for the Warndt coalfields, matching the draft in Annex 25. Article 97: the Treaty, annexes and letters enter into force on the day the instruments of ratification are exchanged; if the exchange is before 1 January 1957, the Treaty does not take effect before that date. The exchange brought it into force on 1 January 1957.

The definitive economic regime, ending the French customs and monetary union, was applied on 6 July 1959, within Article 3, not as a new signature. The Moselle Convention, also signed that day in Luxembourg by France, the Federal Republic and Luxembourg, is a separate instrument. The Saar Treaty does not repeal the 1955 referendum; it follows it.

Image: Grand Ducal Palace, Luxembourg, city of signature; Thomas Roessler, 5 March 2006; CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Saar Treaty. Treaty text: Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the Settlement of the Saar Question, Luxembourg, 27 October 1956.