first post-war integration experiment: the Benelux. As a capital of a small country, it also could not claim to use the presence of institutions to exert pressure on other member states, it being more of a neutral territory between the major European powers. The committee's report was approved of by the council, Parliament and Commissions, however, the council was still unable to achieve a final vote on the issue, and hence put off the issue for a further three years, despite all the institutions now leading in moving to Brussels. The decision was put off due to the varied national positions preventing a unanimous decision. Luxembourg fought to keep the ECSC or have compensation; France fought for Strasbourg; Italy, initially backing Paris, fought for any Italian city to thwart Luxembourg and Strasbourg. Meanwhile, the Parliament passed a series of resolutions complaining about the whole situation of spreading itself across three cities, though unable to do anything about it. Merger Treaty: political and town-planning status quo The 1965 Merger Treaty was seen as an appropriate moment to finally resolve the issue; the separate Commissions and Councils were to be merged. Luxembourg, concerned about losing the High Authority, proposed a split between Brussels and Luxembourg. The Commission and Council were to be located in Brussels, with Luxembourg keeping the Court and Parliamentary Assembly, together with a few of the commission's departments. This was largely welcomed by the member states, but opposed by France, not wishing to see the Parliament leave Strasbourg, and by the Parliament itself, which wished to be with the executives and was further annoyed by the fact that it was not consulted on the matter of its own location. Hence, the status quo was maintained with some adjustments; the commission, with most of its departments, would be in Brussels; as would the council, except for April, June and October, when it would meet in Luxembourg. In addition, Luxembourg would keep the Court of Justice, some of the commission's departments and the Secretariat of the European Parliament. Strasbourg would continue to host the Parliament. Joining the commission was the merged Council's Secretariat. The ECSC's Secretariat merged with the EEC's and EAEC's in the Ravenstein building, which then moved to the Charlemagne building, next to the Berlaymont building, in 1971. In Brussels, staff continued to be spread across a number of buildings, on the Rue Belliard, the Avenue de la Joyeuse