- 1948:the representatives of the States of Western Europe meet in congress in The Hague to provide a legal framework for the "United States of Europe".
- 1949:following the Hague Congress, a Council of Europe is created to guarantee respect for human rights in the countries of Western Europe.
- 9 May 1950:Robert Schuman, French Minister for Foreign Affairs, launches the idea in a famous speech (the Schuman Declaration) of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). It is a beginning of the rapprochement between France and the FRG, five years after the Second World War. It is a way to avoid a new war that would tear Europe apart, making it "not only unthinkable but also materially impossible" , by establishing common economic interests among the various nations of Western Europe.
April 18, 1951
Characters
Robert Schuman
Procedure
After Robert Schuman's initiating speech on 9 May 1950, the various representatives of the nations of Western Europe worked together to achieve the ambitions of economic cooperation launched by the "father of Europe". It was a year later, on April 18, 1951, that they met in Paris to finalize this agreement (Treaty of Paris). The European Coal and Steel Community was born, considered the first international organization based on transnational principles.
Concretely, this community of Western European nations (France, Benelux, FRG, Italy) creates a single market for coal and steel. Indeed, member countries will be able to sell and buy these resources to different members of the community, without having to pay customs fees. This has the consequence of multiplying exchanges between European partners. Such an action was to come to establish a lasting peace between the various signatories, and in the first place between the FRG and France, since coal and steel are two basic resources of the war economy. Eastern Europe, meanwhile, was then under the influence of the USSR, which placed communist leaders in power. It therefore does not participate in this common market.
Consequences
- 25 March 1957:Six years after the establishment of the ECSC, the Treaty of Rome was signed by its six founding members, thus creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom).
- 1985:the European Council establishes May 9 as Europe Day, in honor of the Schuman Declaration of May 9, 1950, a speech considered to be the founding text of the European Union.
- 2002:the ECSC treaty, designed for 50 years, expires.