Europe Day – celebrating 72 years of peace and unity in Europe

Europe Day – celebrating 72 years of peace and unity in Europe

Five years after the end of the Second World War, European governments, hoping to recover from the devastating consequences of the war, came up with the first specific plan for the creation of a European community.

On 9^thMay 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, in his visionary speech, proposed the creation of the ambitius plan to secure long-term peace in post-war Europe, which called for the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community one year later. In this way, member states would pool production of these raw materials in order to avoid future wars.
Robert Schuman’s visionary speech is commemorated every year on Europe Day, the 9th of May, as the anniversary of the ‘Schuman Declaration‘ and the beginning of what is now the European Union. 

The European Day is a call for the renewal of the democracy among the European states about the war in Ukraine and also a call to remember that 2022 is officially the European Year of Youth,  which aims to foster democratic awareness and engagement among young people. Promoting the importance of the voice of youth together with an inclusive citizenship education will give young people the opportunity to shape their future. In this respect, the Education Inspiring Peace Laboratory aims to promote democratic citizenship and the integration of all children into the european education systems.

On this occasion, after months of intense deliberations, the final Conference on the Future of Europe was held in Strasbourg, presenting a report on the final outcome including 49 proposals to the three EU institutions. This event constituted an unprecedented experience of transnational deliberative democracy as well as its historical importance in the context of global crisis and worldwide conflicts. The video of the conference is available at the following link. 

Celebrating Europe day means continuing to honour the peace achieved as a result of the decades-long collective effort, defined by John Hume as the best example in the history of conflict resolution. 

Happy Europe Day to everyone!