A declaration that still resonates today

On Europe Day 2019, the European Union celebrates the 69^th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, the first decisive step in the process of European economic and political convergence that gave birth to the European Union. On 9 May 1950, in a Europe still smarting from the scars of war, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, called on the former combatant nations to pool their coal and steel production. Instead of competing, countries would henceforth cooperate in these strategic industrial sectors in the interest of peace.

As Schuman declared: “Pooling 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."

Robert Schuman was himself a native of the French-German borderlands, a major centre of coal and steel production, and for centuries a theatre of European great power rivalry. Born in Luxembourg, by turns a German and a French citizen, speaking both languages fluently, with personal experience of war and occupation, Schuman was ideally placed to spearhead Franco-German reconciliation after two world wars.

The Schuman Declaration led, one year later, to the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, which gave rise in 1957 to the creation of the European Economic Community, precursor of what we now know as the European Union.

Thanks to Robert Schuman, the European Union was conceived as a peace project. By building bridges of mutual interdependence, exchange and cooperation, conflict between nations becomes unthinkable. Through its successive enlargements, and through its policies of partnership and cooperation policies towards neighbouring countries, the European Union is building a growing zone of peace and prosperity in Europe and beyond.

The European Training Foundation, which celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year, has been working since 1994 in over 40 countries supporting the European Union’s peace project by helping countries make the most of their human capital through the modernisation of education, training, skills and labour market systems. Skills provide opportunities for people and contribute to economic growth and social cohesion.

In commemorating 9 May 2019, the ETF looks forward to its next 25 years supporting the European Union in building peace and prosperity across the world through its high level expertise and long experience of human capital and skills in developing and transition countries.

As Robert Schuman said in his Declaration: “World peace cannot be safeguarded without making creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.”