9 May is Europe's birthday, Europe Day. In 1950, Robert Schuman, who at the time was France's Foreign Minister, delivered a speech that laid the foundations of the European Union: the Schuman Declaration. His proposal envisaged "the elimination of the age-old opposition of France and Germany" through the pooling of "Franco-German production of coal and steel under a common high authority, within the framework of an organisation open to the participation of the other countries of Europe".

From the ECSC to Schengen

Within a year, the ECSC — the European Coal and Steel Community — was born. The first countries to join were, alongside France and West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Today, more than 70 years later, the European Union (EU) is made up of 28 countries (soon to be 27) that share values, rights and resources. Most of them also share a currency that in recent years has been the target of easy and often uninformed criticism: the euro. Thanks to the EU and the Schengen agreements, Europeans can travel freely from Tallinn, in Estonia, to Lisbon, in Portugal. From the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Towards political union

The European Union is not yet perfect. There is still a long way to go before achieving a fully democratic organisation that gives a voice to its more than 500 million citizens. But milestones such as respect for human dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity and justice are priceless. It should be remembered that more than 70 years ago, the most violent conflict in human history came to an end: the Second World War. Today, the main challenges are climate change, biodiversity loss, unemployment, the reception of migrants and world hunger. Because, as Schuman said, "world peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it".