VISIONARIES FROM THE HISTORY OFEUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Words that started the Union

FOREWORD

25 March 1957 was a significant day for European integration. On that day, the heads of state of six European countries signed the Treaty of Rome. Today, this document still constitutes the foundation of the European Union.

In the run up to this momentous event, statesmen from across Europe spoke and wrote about their vision for the Union. Their famous words paved the way towards a common understanding of the goals and principles on which the European Union is still based today.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and to pay tribute to these men, we present a selection of extracts from their most famous speeches and written works.

Rudolf W. Strohmeier Director-General of the Publications Office of the European Union

RICHARD COUDENHOVE-KALERGI

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RICHARD COUDENHOVE-KALERGI

(Austrian, 1894-1972) was a pioneer of European integration. He dedicated his entire life to his vision of ‘Paneuropa’, a popular movement for a united Europe that he launched in the early 1920s.

Over a period of decades, Coudenhove-Kalergi built up a network of political leaders who helped to promote Europe’s political and economic integration.

‘Europe as a political concept does not exist. This part of the world includes nations and states installed in the chaos, in a barrel of gunpowder of international conflicts, in a field of future conflicts. This is the European Question: the mutual hate of the Europeans that poisons the atmosphere ... The European Question will only be solved by means of the union of Europe’s nations.’

Extract from a manifesto published by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi in 1923, in which the idea of a Pan-European union is presented for the first time.

ALTIEROSPINELLI

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ALTIERO SPINELLI

(Italian, 1907-1986) was a devoted European federalist. In 1943 he founded the European Federalist Movement.

He was a Member of the European Commission (1970-1976) and a Member of the European Parliament (1976-1986).

‘With propaganda and action, seeking to establish in every possible way the agreements and links among the single movements which are certainly being formed in the various countries, the foundation must be built now for a movement that knows how to mobilise all forces for the birth of the new organism which will be the grandest creation, and the newest, that has occurred in Europe for centuries … If a sufficient number of men in European countries understand this, then victory is shortly to be in their hands, because the situation and the spirit will be favourable to their work. They will have before them parties and factions that have already been disqualified by the disastrous experience of the last twenty years. It will be the moment of new action, it will also be the moment of new men: the MOVEMENT FOR A FREE AND UNITED EUROPE.’

Extract from the Ventotene Manifesto (Italian: Manifesto di Ventotene) — officially entitled For a Free and United Europe — a political statement written by Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi while they were prisoners on the Italian island of Ventotene during the Second World War. The manifesto encouraged a federation of European states, which was meant to keep the countries of Europe close, thus preventing war.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

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WINSTON CHURCHILL

(British, 1874-1965) was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1940-1945 and 1951-1955). He favoured the formation of a council of Europe and pleaded for

building a ‘United States of Europe’. The aim of democratically organised ‘united states’ would be to prevent future wars in Europe.

‘If Europe were once united in the sharing of its common inheritance, there would be no limit to the happiness, to the prosperity and glory which its three or four hundred million people would enjoy … It is to re-create the European Family, or as much of it as we can, and provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of millions of toilers be able to regain the simple joys and hopes which make life worth living.’

Extract from an address given by Winston Churchill on 19 September 1946 at the University of Zurich, in which he identifies Franco-German reconciliation and the establishment of a European organisation as conditions for peace and liberty throughout the continent.

ROBERTSCHUMAN

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ROBERT SCHUMAN

(1883-1963) was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Twice Prime Minister of France, a reformist minister of finance and a foreign minister, he was instrumental

in building postwar European and transatlantic institutions and was one of the founders of the European Union, the Council of Europe and NATO.

‘World peace cannot be preserved without creative efforts equal to the dangers threatening it. The contribution that an organised, dynamic Europe can bring to civilisation is essential for the preservation of peaceful relations. By championing a united Europe for more than twenty years, France’s main objective was always to serve the cause of peace. Europe was not made, and the result was war. Europe will not be constructed in one go, according to a single plan: it will be built on specific achievements creating, first of all, a de facto solidarity.’

Extract from the Schuman Declaration — a statement presented by Robert Schuman on 9 May 1950, which was a proposal to place Franco-German production of coal and steel under one common authority. This cooperation was to be designed in such a way as to create common interests between European countries, which would lead to gradual political integration, a condition for the pacification of relations between them.

ALCIDEDE GASPERI

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ALCIDE DE GASPERI

(1881-1954) was a politician and Prime Minister of Italy (1945-1953). Born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he was a member of the parliament in Vienna. After the Second World War he forged the path of Italy in postwar reconstruction and was inspired by

the ideal of peaceful cooperation between nations. He became a prime mover behind various initiatives for European integration. In 1954 he was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly for the European Coal and Steel Community.

‘History, with its similarities and coincidences, its links which when broken are instantly forged anew, shows us that the uniting of our forces is likely to dispel the rancour in our hearts, and can give us peace within Europe, even before a defence pact is concluded as a guarantee of that peace. The pooling of our social, cultural, and administrative experience doubles the strength of our national potentialities, and preserves them from all danger of decline, by giving them fresh impetus towards the creation of a still more advanced and still nobler civilisation.’

Extract from the speech given by Alcide De Gasperi on 10 December 1951, in which he explains the significance of the plans to create the European Defence Community to the assembly of the Council of Europe.

KONRADADENAUER

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KONRAD ADENAUER

(German, 1876-1967) was the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949-1963). As chancellor he was involved in the process of establishing the European Communities.

In 1963, he co-signed the Franco-German Treaty of Friendship with Charles de Gaulle. This treaty became a milestone on the road to European integration.

‘There has been much planning and discussion regarding the creation of Europe. In the time when people thought only in terms of the nation state, it was an almost perverse idea, and, to many, it seemed Utopian, although they could not fail to see that there was a need for a new kind of Europe. Now the first step from plan to reality has been taken. As we confidently hope, this ushers in a new era for our Continent, an era of peace, common endeavour and new prosperity. A grand vista opens up before us … In the interests of peace, in the interests of progress, we must create Europe, and we shall create Europe.’

Extract from an address given by Konrad Adenauer in Luxembourg on 8 September 1952 at the inaugural meeting of the special council of the European Coal and Steel Community.

JEANMONNET

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JEAN MONNET

(French, 1888-1979) was a French political economist and diplomat. He was the first President of the High Authority of the European Coal and

Steel Community, the founder of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe and a driving force behind the creation of the European Council.

‘In all our future efforts we shall have to keep in mind that mankind cannot give concrete shape to all the potentialities with which Nature and History have endowed it, if it does not live in harmony with its time. The single market which we will institute for the first time represents one of the essential elements for achieving great developments in production. These developments are necessary and are possible, but only if we unite … In these days when the first supranational institutions of Europe are being established, we are conscious of the beginning of the great European revolution of our time: the revolution which, on our Continent, aims at substituting unity in freedom and in diversity for tragic national rivalries, the revolution which tends to stop the decay of our civilisation and to initiate a new renaissance.’

Extract from a speech given on 11 September 1952 by Jean Monnet, President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community, in which he opens the inaugural session of the Common Assembly, setting out the role of the first Community institutions and stressing the importance of establishing a single market in Europe.

PAUL-HENRISPAAK

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PAUL-HENRI SPAAK

(Belgian, 1899-1972) played a key role in formulating the Treaties of Rome, which established the European Economic Community and the European Atomic

Energy Community. He was also the first President of the United Nations General Assembly and was instrumental in the creation of NATO.

‘We have recovered, pulled ourselves together and, without forgetting the past — which would be a betrayal — we have decided to embark on this great adventure which, if it succeeds — and it will — will allow us to save the dearest and most beautiful things we have in common. This draft treaty is thus not only a moving message of reconciliation — it is a vote of confidence in the future. It is not just a political and legal document but an initiative of men who are determined to save the inestimable riches and intellectual heritage which aggression has only rendered more dear.’

Extract from a speech given by Paul-Henri Spaak on 9 March 1953 in Strasbourg, during which he officially hands over the draft treaty establishing the European Political Community to the foreign ministers of the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community.

JOHAN WILLEMBEYEN

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JOHAN WILLEM BEYEN

(Dutch, 1897-1976) was a banker, civil servant, politician and diplomat. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (1952-1956). In his ‘Beyen

Plan’, he championed the idea of a Europe which was primarily economic and he outlined the objective of creating a common market and an economic union.

‘Countries wishing to create a common market must not lose sight of their real aim — to modernise their productive capacity. Their objective is to give their businesses the opportunity to compete as effectively as possible against other producers, both within and outside the group of participating countries. Creating a common market encircled by a surrounding wall to protect against competition from outside would do nothing to achieve this goal. Rather, it would run contrary to it. It is economic growth, both within the participating States and in their trade with the wider world, which is rightly highlighted in the draft treaty. A European community should not be restrictive, either in terms of its character or its structure.’

Extract from a letter sent by Johan Willem Beyen on 5 May 1953 to his counterparts in the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community, in which he outlines the means for establishing general, rather than sectoral, economic integration in order to progressively establish a genuine common market in Europe.

JOSEPH BECH

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JOSEPH BECH

(Luxembourgish, 1887-1975), a politician who served as Prime Minister of Luxembourg, was actively involved in the European integration process. During

the Second World War he participated in the founding of the Benelux. In 1955, he chaired the Messina Conference, which would lead to the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

‘The signature of the treaties establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community is the most important step forward since the war on the long road towards European unity. Today, for the first time in their history, the peoples of Europe are coming together freely in a vast enterprise to advance the cause of progress and prosperity, replacing their rivalries and economic antagonism with an organisation founded on the principle of the common good.’

Extract from a speech given by Joseph Bech on 25 March 1957 in Rome, during the signing ceremony for the treaties establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, in which he welcomes in particular the historical significance of the new treaties for the process of European integration.

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Paper ISBN 978-92-78-41428-3 doi:10.2830/55775 OA-04-17-077-EN-CPDF ISBN 978-92-78-41427-6 doi:10.2830/486066 OA-04-17-077-EN-N

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Text credits: Page 3: Source: Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europa, German edition, 1982, Pan-Europa Verlag, Augsburg, pp. 23-24. © Pan-Europa Verlag, Wien, 1923 [Pan-Europa Verlag, Vienna, 1923].

Page 5: Source: Il manifesto di Ventotene, Il Mulino, ‘Biblioteca federalista’, 1991, p. 50. © 1991 by Società editrice Il Mulino, Bologna [copyright issued in 1991 by the ‘Il Mulino’ publishing company, Bologna]

Page 7: Source: Speech by Winston Churchill at the University of Zurich on 19 September 1946. Council of Europe document: https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=09000016806981f3

Page 9: Source: © Archives du ministère français des Affaires étrangères et du développement international – La Courneuve [Archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development — La Courneuve].

Page 11: Source: Speech by Mr De Gasperi to the Committee on General Affairs of the Consultative Assembly on 10 December 1951. Council of Europe document: http://coe.archivalware.co.uk/awweb/pdfopener?smd=1&md=1&did=716282

Page 13: Source: Speech by Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer at the inaugural meeting of the ECSC Special Council of Ministers in Luxembourg on 8 September 1952. Published in the Official Gazette of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: https://www.gouvernement.lu/1824206/BID_1952_8-9.pdf

Page 15: Source: http://europa.eu/!NV38bc

Page 17: Source: http://europa.eu/!fU96hp

Page 19: Source: Archives of the Council of the European Union, CM1 CECA CPE. 31.2. © European Union. Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

Page 21: Source: Archives of the Council of the European Union, CM3 NEG01. 98. © European Union. Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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Paper ISBN 978-92-78-41428-3 doi:10.2830/55775 OA-04-17-077-EN-CPDF ISBN 978-92-78-41427-6 doi:10.2830/486066 OA-04-17-077-EN-N

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