“Enlargement best geopolitical investment.” EU celebrates its anniversary this way

Brussels – Forward in the spirit of Robert Schuman, the creator of the European integration project: The EU is thus celebrating its 75th anniversary of the former French statesman’s now historic declaration by relaunching the project. “We reaffirm our deep commitment to a European project that unites our peoples and to enlargement as the best geopolitical investment of the European Union,” is the pledge expressed by the presidents of the EU Commission, Council and Parliament, Ursula von de Leyen, Antonio Costa, and Roberta Metsola in the joint declaration for the occasion.

Today (May 9), initiatives and events are being held in EU cities to celebrate the European Union, such as in Rome and Milan, where a huge EU flag was unfurled on the Campidoglio square and in Piazza Duomo as a sign, from one of the six founding countries (along with France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), of attachment to the EU project.

On May 9, 1950, Schuman, as French foreign minister, delivered the speech that laid the foundation for a European Union. He pushed to rehabilitate Germany after the war and create economic cooperation, to make coal and steel available, and to create equal, nondiscriminatory production conditions between economies. This was to be governed by a supra-state entity. The Economic Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was born here, with institutions of political governance—the Common Assembly and High Authority, later to become the European Parliament and the European Commission—aimed at managing the new course, thereafter no longer just economic but increasingly political.

“Over time, more and more countries have decided to join a common European project, testifying to the attractiveness of shared values, democracy, and unity among the peoples of our continent,” von der Leyen, Costa, and Metsola continue, alluding to the enlargement process that has seen the number of member states grow from six to the current 27.

While celebrations have already begun in the cities of Europe, tomorrow (May 10), residents and passersby in the cities hosting EU institutions will be able to discover the world of the European Union with specially organised visits for the occasion. In Brussels (Commission, Council, Parliament, Committee of the Regions, Economic and Social Committee, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), Luxembourg (Court of Justice and Court of Auditors, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.), Frankfurt (European Central Bank, 11 a.m. to midnight) open doors to celebrate Europe Day all together and explain what the EU has done for citizens.