9 May 2021: Take Part in Europe Day

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On 9 May, the Member States of the European Union celebrate Europe Day. [1] This date was chosen to mark the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, considered to be the founding act of the European Union and one of the symbols of Europe. On 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman laid the first stone of a European organization essential to keeping the peace.

This year, Europe Day is taking on a special dimension with the launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Europe Day message by Jean-Yves Le Drian

Conference on the future of Europe

On 9 May 2021, the European Parliament, Council and Commission are launching the Conference on the Future of Europe: all citizens of the European Union are invited to speak about their future and what kind of European Union they would like to live in. The conclusions of this first conference of its kind will be shared during the French Presidency of the European Union, which is to begin on 1 January 2022.

In France, the Conference will be launched by President Emmanuel Macron in Strasbourg.

Find out more about the Conference on the future of Europe

9 May 1950: delving into the diplomatic archives

Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.

On 9 May 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed to European countries the creation of an institution to jointly manage coal and steel resources. He made his declaration at the Quai d’Orsay, in the Clock Room (Salon de l’Horloge). It was symbolic in two ways:

  • It meant uniting countries that had been enemies during the two world wars and overcoming long-standing grievances;
  • It meant creating an organization open to the other willing European countries, as the starting point for European integration.

In his declaration, Robert Schuman set out his plan: “The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible. […] In this way, there will be realised simply and speedily that fusion of interest which is indispensable to the establishment of a common economic system; it may be the leaven from which may grow a wider and deeper community between countries long opposed to one another by sanguinary divisions.”

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands answered his call, creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

Other “communities” were to follow along the same lines, such as the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957, creating pan-European solidarities that formed the basis for today’s European Union.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary celebration of the signature of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), discover our exhibition on this founding text of European integration. The original treaty can be found in the Diplomatic Archives.

[1Europe Day was established at the European Council meeting in Milan in June 1985.