Cold War pressures in Europe, the French government took an historic step in deciding that the only viable political model for the future lay in European integration. This resulted in the Schuman Declaration, a plan drafted for the most part by Jean Monnet. The plan put forward a rapprochement between France, Germany, and other European countries wanting to participate. As a first step, France and Germany were to agree to pool their markets for coal and steel, following the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). With the participation of West Germany in the ECSC, agreement on termination of the International Authority for the Ruhr came into force on 25 June 1952. However, France delayed the return of the Saar. Under French rule, pro-German parties were initially banned from contesting the elections. Much support was given to the , a Francophile movement founded by Saar exiles in Paris in early 1945, with many of the exiles having returned after the war. However, in the general election of December 1952, 24% of the voters cast blank ballots in support of banned pro-German parties (while the majority still voted for one of the legal parties who wanted the Saar to remain autonomous). Referendum and becoming a state of West Germany In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but a referendum held on 23 October 1955 rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Sarrois was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany. On 27 October 1956 the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to become a state of West Germany, as provided by its constitution art. 23, and so Saarland did on 1 January 1957. West Germany agreed to the channelization of the Moselle. This reduced French freight costs in the Lorraine steel industry. West Germany also agreed to the teaching of French as the first foreign language in schools in the Saarland; although no longer binding, the agreement is still in the main followed. The treaty also stated that economic union with West Germany was to be completed by 1960, with the exact date of the