The Schuman Declaration
Where the EU was born
On 9 May 1950, the foundation of the European Union as we know it was set out in an extraordinary declaration based on two core principles: peace and solidarity.
Europe after the war
In 1950, European countries were slowly recovering from the human and economic devastation caused by World War II, under the shadow of the renewed global tensions sparked by the Cold War.
Child in the ruins of St. Casimir Church in Warsaw, 1945.
Child in the ruins of St. Casimir Church in Warsaw, 1945.
A group of European politicians, most of whom had experienced the ravages of the two world wars, shared a vision of a united Europe that would prevent future conflict between European countries. Those politicians later became known as the founding fathers of the European Union.
Their vision was that European countries would pool strategic resources together in order to make war between historic rivals, like France and Germany, 'not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.'
'The pooling of coal and steel production... will change the destinies of those regions which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war, of which they have been the most constant victims.'
Peace and solidarity
The union of coal and steel was at the centre of this vision of a united Europe. The heavy industry based on coal and steel had previously been the prerogative of sovereign states and had been crucial to war-making.
Convinced that merging their economic interests would prevent cartels and monopolies and raise standards of living, the governments of France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg took a historic step towards a united Europe.
From resistance fighters to lawyers and parliamentarians, the EU pioneers were a diverse group of people who held the same ideals: a peaceful, united and prosperous Europe.
The monument "Hommage aux Pères fondateurs de l'Europe" in front of Robert Schuman's house. The statues represent the four founders of Europe: Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet and Konrad Adenauer.
The monument "Hommage aux Pères fondateurs de l'Europe" in front of Robert Schuman's house. The statues represent the four founders of Europe: Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet and Konrad Adenauer.
On 9 May 1950, in what became known as the Schuman Declaration, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman announced the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community placed under the control of a common High Authority.
'World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making
of creative efforts
proportionate to the dangers
which threaten it.'
A united Europe
In 1951, following the Schuman Declaration, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community was signed on 18 April, in Paris. After ratification by Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands (the Inner Six), the treaty entered into force on 23 July 1952.
It provided for the creation of the first supranational European organisation, the European Coal and Steel Community. While the immediate objective of this first treaty was to establish a common market for coal and steel, it also aimed to lay the foundations of an economic community that would gradually become a political union.
The treaty established a High Authority, a Common Assembly, a Special Council of Ministers and a Court of Justice, which were to become the institutions of the European Union of today: the Commission, the Parliament, the Council and the Court of Justice.
The Messina Conference, attended by the foreign ministers of the six member states of the European Coal and Steel Community.
The Messina Conference, attended by the foreign ministers of the six member states of the European Coal and Steel Community.
A conference held in Messina (Italy) on 1 and 2 June 1955 developed the concept of a European common market.
Two years later this concept would be embodied in the Treaties of Rome, which were named after the city in which the Inner Six signed the treaties on 25 March 1957. They entered into force on 1 January 1958.
The signing ceremony of the treaties at the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.
The signing ceremony of the treaties at the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.
'A united Europe was not achieved
and we had war.
Europe will not be made all at once,
or according to a single plan:
it will be formed through concrete measures which bring about
a de facto solidarity.'
Robert Schuman: Father of Europe
The man behind the declaration, Robert Schuman, was German by birth but became a French citizen in 1919, after Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France.
When World War II began, Schuman was a junior minister in the French government.
He became active in the French Resistance during the war and was taken prisoner. Narrowly escaping deportation to the Dachau concentration camp, he went into hiding in France for the next three years.
After the war, he returned to national politics and held a series of top-level posts: firstly as minister of finance, as prime minister in 1947, as foreign minister from 1948-1952 and then as minister of justice from 1955-56.
As French foreign minister he oversaw the preparation of the declaration within his ministry, which was drafted by Paul Reuter, Bernard Clappier, Jean Monnet, Pierre Uri and Etienne Hirsch.
Robert Schuman's efforts to create a united Europe did not stop with the European Coal and Steel Community.
In 1958, he became the first President of the predecessor to the current European Parliament.
When he left office, the Parliament granted him the title of ‘Father of Europe’.
Europe Day
Because of the significance
of the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950,
this day has been designated as
‘Europe Day’.
In honour of his pioneering work
towards a united Europe,
the area housing the headquarters of several
European Union institutions in Brussels
is named after him.
Credits
German town, WW2: Unknown author
Child in the ruins of St. Casimir Church: via wikimedia, Unknown author, public domain
Other images: copyright European Union
Last updated 24 April 2025
Built with Shorthand