Every 9 May, the European Union celebrates peace and unity on 'Europe
Day'.
The event
marks the anniversary of the day in 1950 when Robert Schuman, one of the
founders of the EU, made his 'Schuman Declaration', outlining a vision to unite
separate European states into a single community. He understood the process
would be gradual:
Europe
will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built
through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.
Still
fresh from the trauma of World War II, Schuman hoped his plan would ensure
peace – and particularly peace between France and Germany – in the future. He
proposed pooling the coal and steel production of different European countries
and argued that this common venture would 'make it plain that any war between
France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.'
The
European Steel and Coal Community created after Schuman's speech eventually
grew into today's European Union. The original six members (France, West
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) now number 28.
This
year's visual for Europe Day and the Open Doors Day of the European
institutions is composed from elements of the 28 flags of the European Union
member states. They were separated into pieces and re-assembled into characters
with the help of 6-8 year old children in schools in Paris and Brussels.
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