Transcription
The death and destruction of the Second World War made many dream of a United Europe. Fighting Nazi occupation had forged a sense of solidarity across many countries, and some European leaders knew unity could offer both peace and prosperity.
"We must recreate the European family in a regional structure called, it may be, the United States of Europe, and the first practical step would be to form a Council of Europe." [Applause]
“It is high time, in my opinion, that the countries of Western Europe try to collaborate with each other.” [Applause]
“The road to pursue is neither easy nor certain, but it must be followed, and it will be done.” [Applause]
Many of these ideas came together at the Congress of Europe held in the Hague in 1948. As a result of the Congress, the Council of Europe was created in 1949. It was a first step towards bringing the countries of Europe together. [Music]
During both World Wars, coal and steel had powered the military machine. In the 1950s, they became the first building blocks for lasting peace in Europe. In 1950, French foreign affairs minister Robert Schuman announced that Germany and France would merge their coal and steel industries, making war between them not only unthinkable but materially impossible.
In all, six countries joined the initiative, signing the Treaty of Paris in 1951 to create the Coal and Steel Community. The treaty also created a court of justice, the forerunner of the European Court of Justice. These signatories committed to not waging war on European soil.
After the Treaty of Paris, the next ambitious step was the creation of a European defense community. But in 1954, the project collapsed, exposing the tensions still smoldering within Europe over the fears about Germany's remilitarization. The following year, the Messina conference explored alternative ways for Europeans to unite. The need for cohesion was indisputable.
In 1956, the Suez crisis and the Hungarian Uprising brought conflict to the very edges of Western Europe. Shaped by such threats, the 1957 treaties of Rome created Euratom, the European Atomic Energy Community, and the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union.
Even as the newly created European communities were taking their first steps, the world seemed to be descending into chaos. In 1961, the German Democratic Republic erected the Berlin Wall, separating the eastern and western sectors of the city and splitting communities and even families in two. And in 1962, the world held its breath as the United States and the Soviet Union almost triggered a nuclear war over the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
In a world where Armageddon seemed a real possibility, French president Charles de Gaulle was uneasy about a Europe where member states would be obliged to relinquish too much of their independence. Whereas, the European Commission saw Europe specifically as an organization that would have powers over the member states. This disagreement led to France boycotting European institutions for 6 months. De Gaulle also repeatedly vetoed the United Kingdom's application for European Community membership. European integration ground to a halt.
It was only after de Gaulle stepped down from power in 1969, after the student riots on the streets of Paris, that Europe's progress towards integration could resume. In 1969, leaders of European Community member states met in the Hague to relaunch European unity. For the first time, leaders agreed to consult on and to coordinate their national foreign policies.
In 1972, EC members made their first attempt at European monetary cooperation, devising a system that limited fluctuations between the different European currencies. In 1974, the European Council was established, allowing leaders of its member states to meet on a regular basis.
In 1975, European Community member states were present at Helsinki, when during a thaw in the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union sat down together for the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Human rights became part of the negotiations, with the European Community leading the fight to make them integral to future relations between all European states.
By now, the European Community consisted of nine countries: the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Denmark had joined in 1973. While Norway voted to stay out. In 1979, the first European Parliament elections were held, making the community more democratic. In its inaugural session, the new Parliament elected the French politician, Simone Veil, as its first president. In the years to follow, the Parliament would use its powers to influence the decisions and budgets of the European Community.
But further integration stalled, with no new ideas on the table and a leadership that was seen as weak. The European Community was, however, getting bigger. In 1981, Greece joined, followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986. It was the arrival of Jacques Delors, as president of the European Commission, that revived the vision of a single common market within Europe. The single market would be achieved by enforcing four fundamental freedoms of movement: goods, capital, services, and people. There would also be a single currency.
As the Iron Curtain collapsed and revolutions swept across Central and Eastern Europe, the need for unity seemed even more imperative. In 1992, the Maastricht treaty was signed, creating the European Union, bringing with it the single market and a wide set of new powers and policies. The new EU was enlarging; Austria, Sweden, and Finland joined in 1995, and integration was deepening with measures designed to bridge the gap between rich and poor regions within Europe.
Also in 1995, the Schengen agreement came into force, creating a zone of five countries within Europe where people and goods could move freely. But the European Union also needed to look beyond its united borders. Whilst it had always been a defender of human rights, the massacres in war-torn former Yugoslavia were a grim example of just how hard it was for the EU to take concrete action in the international arena. [Music]
During the 1990s, two ambitious projects gave extraordinary energy to the EU: enlargement and the single currency. By the early 2000s, Euro coins were in people's pockets, old currencies had been abandoned, and a European Central Bank was established. In 2004, 10 more countries joined the EU, the largest single expansion in its history, with Romania and Bulgaria joining in 2007. [Music]
What the EU did not have, however, was a constitution. The German Foreign Affairs minister, Joschka Fischer, first proposed the idea in 2000. Discussions were shaped by 9/11 and its aftermath, and by disagreements between EU member states over the war in Iraq. But, by November 2004, the treaty establishing a constitution had been signed by all member states. The following year, however, the treaty was rejected in national referendums by the people of the Netherlands and France.
Two more years later, instead of a constitution, member states agreed to simply add a new treaty to the existing treaties. The result was the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, or the Lisbon Treaty. Changes included: the creation of a long-term president of the European Council and a more powerful European Parliament.
In 2008, a financial crisis began to unfold in the Eurozone, threatening its very existence. The European Central Bank and other international financial institutions stepped in as several countries found themselves on the brink of bankruptcy. It became clear that a common currency could not succeed without also having a common financial and economic policy. Protesters grew more angry but more organized. Whilst it was clear that international financial organizations were accountable, many also blamed the EU for their situation. And all around Europe's borders, there was growing unrest and upheaval: the Arab Spring in Africa and the Middle East, protests in Turkey, and war in the Ukraine.
Croatia joined the EU in 2013, but there was no appetite for further enlargement. Citizens were now voicing very clear demands. They wanted more democracy and more transparency. But the best way to achieve this was far from clear. In 2014, the European Parliament was for the first time able to elect the president of the Commission, a step forward in democratization.
From its early beginnings as a response to the catastrophe of war in Europe, the European Union has evolved many times, responding to world events, challenges at home, and the demands of its citizens. It remains a work in progress, and there is still plenty to do. [Music]