Background
Europe had just come out of the Second World War, a conflict that had nearly destroyed the continent and split it between two spheres of influence. In a desire not to repeat such destruction, there was a great deal of momentum towards European co-operation. Winston Churchill, standing next to Robert Schuman had called for Franco-German reconciliation in a united Europe in a speech in Metz on 14 July 1946. In Zurich Churchill later called for a United States of Europe, and to begin with, a Council of Europe. In speeches before the United Nations, Schuman announced that a revitalized Germany must be placed inside a European democracy. The Council of Europe was duly created to provide the great framework of a European union (as it was originally called) in which the European Communities could be inserted. The Council was a herald of these supranational communities to come on the path to a full European integration.
Schuman had stated that the idea of a European Coal and Steel Community dated from before he attended university. Schuman initiated policies in preparation for this major change of European politics while Prime Minister of France (1947-8) and Foreign Minister from 1948 onwards. He spoke about the principles of sharing European resources in a supranational union at the signing of the Statute of the Council of Europe in London, 5 May 1949.
The Declaration had several distinct aims, which it tackled together.
- It marked the birth of Europe
- It aimed to make war between Member States impossible
- It encouraged world peace
- It would transform Europe by a 'step by step' process (building through sectoral supranational communities) leading to the unification of Europe, including both East and West Europe separated by the Iron Curtain
- the world's first international anti-cartel agency
- It created a single market across the Community
- This, starting with the coal and steel sector, would revitalise the whole European economy by similar community processes
- It claimed to improve the world economy and of the developing countries, such as those in Africa.
Read more about this topic: Schuman Declaration
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