On May 9, the EU honors former French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, who formulated the idea of the EU on May 9, 1950. Since 1985, heads of state and government have decided to celebrate May 9 as Europe Day.
On 23 July 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community came into force in Europe. The European Coal and Steel Community was the nucleus of the European Economic Community, which was established in 1957 with the Treaties of Rome. The European Economic Community was the basis for the European Union in the early 1990s. The European Coal and Steel Community, which included France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, was proposed by the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman.
Schumann and Adenauer lay the foundations of the EU
Five years had passed since the end of World War II, and the FRG had not even celebrated its first anniversary, when French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed the joint management of coal and steel production. The Schuman Plan was a revolution: A supranational office would be entrusted with decision-making powers. Franco-German relations were fraught with mistrust: Would Germany, as after World War I, again fall into nationalist megalomania and threaten its neighbors? Or would the horror of war and murder give way to democratic and peace-loving forces, and would they make reconciliation possible? “Europe must cease to be a place of battles, where the opposing sides drown in blood. From this awareness, which was so dearly paid for, we want to walk on new paths, which will lead us to a united and peaceful Europe.”
So said Robert Schuman, one of the pioneers of reconciliation, who had homelands in Germany, Luxembourg and France and had experienced both world wars. Schuman was born in the German Empire and his native language was Luxembourgish. He lived, studied and worked in Luxembourg, Bonn, Munich, Berlin, Strasbourg and Metz.
When Alsace-Lorraine was transferred from Germany to France after World War I in 1919, Schuman took French citizenship. In France, he began his political career. Although he spoke French with an accent all his life, shortly after World War II he became Prime Minister of France and later Foreign Minister. As such, he took an initiative that has changed Europe to this day. “The French government proposes to place German and French coal and steel production under a common administration.”
With his proposal for a Montanunion with the duty-free movement of goods between France and Germany, which was to be open to other countries as well, Schuman wanted to anchor continued cooperation and strong ties between the two countries, once at odds. In Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, he found a partner on the German side who pursued the same goals. “Iron and steel have played a fatal role in the wars of the European peoples against each other in recent decades and centuries, because all weapons were made of iron and steel. Now iron and steel must unite the European peoples on a common ground of action and thought.”
"Schuman, the great European visionary"
The Schuman Plan and the subsequent establishment of the Montanunion are today considered the birth of the European Community, because in his statement the French Foreign Minister foresaw the subsequent integration of other member states. He was convinced that the Montanunion would lead to a larger and stronger Union: “This proposal brings into being for the first time a European federation, which is essential for the security of peace.”
However, in the early 50s, the time was not yet ripe for Schuman's expansion plans. Two years later, he resigned as Foreign Minister because he was unable to realize the idea of the European Community. It took another seven years before the European countries were ready to commit to closer ties through the Treaty of Rome. But Schuman's efforts were rewarded: He became the first President of the European Parliament.
Adenauer later said that Schuman had already been a great European visionary in 1950: "He saw further than I did when he proposed the Montanunion. Don't think that he proposed the Montanunion for economic reasons! It was an important political issue."
And it was the beginning of a deepening union, which today includes 27 countries with around a billion citizens. Montanunion no longer exists. The original 1952 agreement expired after 50 years. Montanunion rules continued in 2002 in new EU agreements./DW/
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