Written by Anna Flynn.
The annual Europe Day celebrations mark the anniversary of what is widely regarded as the founding act of the European Union.
After World War II, coal and steel were considered indispensable due to their role in economic growth and defence. Head of the French Planning Committee, Jean Monnet, and French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, believed that pooling these resources would not only be financially strategic, but would consolidate European peace and unity.
Schuman presented this concept during a press conference on 9 May 1950 at the Quai d’Orsay. The text, known as the Schuman Declaration; outlined that ‘solidarity in production’ would make another war ‘not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible’. It stated that ‘world peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.’
In April 1951, Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Paris, which created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). After entering into force in 1952, the ECSC facilitated a common market and freedom of movement of coal and steel between the six signatories. Notably, this was the first supranational organisation in Europe.
The ECSC was comprised of a High Authority that had decision-making competencies (the foundation of what is currently the European Commission), as well as a Special Council of Ministers, a Court of Justice, and a Consultative Committee.
The ECSC was also supported by a Common Assembly, which had 78 members (selected by national parliaments), supervisory power, and the right to dismiss the High Authority.
As the ECSC Common Assembly had the autonomy to write its rules of procedures, it unanimously decided, at its plenary session in June 1953, to allow the creation of political groups. With this decision, it became the world’s first international assembly organised in political groups (other international assemblies established after World War II were largely structured by grouping nations).
In 1958, the Common Assembly was renamed the European Parliamentary Assembly, , and Schuman was elected as its President.
Now, 76 years later, it is the European Parliament’s 10th legislative term; and it is made up of 720 Members across eight political groups; representing over 450 million citizens in 27 Member States. Between 2014 and 2019, 396 proposals were presented under the ordinary legislative procedure, all of which involved Parliament.
The peace, strength and unity, and integration that Robert Schuman championed several decades ago are values that continue to characterise the EU’s priorities and actions today. From an initiative to integrate industry to the world’s largest supranational democracy, the 9 May celebrations commemorate the inception of an idea that changed Europe forever.
Links:
- Robert Schuman
- Schuman Declaration, May 1950
- The ECSC Common Assembly’s decision to create political groups Writing a new chapter in transnational parliamentary history
- Impact of the ECSC Common Assembly on the politics, negotiation and content of the Rome Treaties
- Happy Birthday European Union: Europe Day, 9 May
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