1. The spectre of war (1945-1950)
When the Second World War ended, Europe faced a fundamental question. How to guarantee peace and prosperity on the old continent and avoid similar conflict in the future? Numerous voices were raised, among leaders and intellectuals, proclaiming loud and clear that the time had come for Europeans to start on the path towards unity.
2. The birth of sextuplets (1950-1958)
The European leaders decided to opt for unification through European cooperation, realising that union between the people of Europe would be achieved by progressive union based on common economic interests. Thus the six founding countries of the European integration project (France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy) decided first of all to communitise their coal and steel production and then to extend this cooperation to the entire economy.
3. Learning from mistakes (1958-1986)
The foundations for European integration were gradually laid. As envisaged by the founding fathers, more and more sectors were included in this cooperative concept. But how could the obstacles to unification be overcome? Which direction should integration take? Which procedures should be chosen? These are all the same questions that continue to divide Europe…
4. Older and wiser (1986- 2010)
Thirty years on and the time had come for European leaders to envisage a political dimension to their unification. Europe needed to adapt and make way for a more global system. More and more candidates were jostling to join the EEC and then the EU. The European (Economic) Community was gradually transformed into a broader and deeper Union, which now has 27 Member States. The institutional system initially adopted therefore needed wide-sweeping reform. A series of treaties was signed in order to achieve this objective. Two of them marked a real turning point in the history of European integration: the Treaty of Maastricht (1992) and the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on 1 December 2009.
5. We have come a long way in 50 years !
Here is a snapshot of the European Union: there are 27 Member States, we pay for our lunch in Finland in euro, we travel from one country to another with no border controls and, when floods strike one region of Europe, the other Member States offer financial aid for reconstruction.