Europe Day

9 May is one of the symbols of Europe, which along with the single currency (euro), the flag, and the hymn, identifies the political entity of the European Union. On this day in 1950,the first step towards the uniting of the efforts of all European countries in the initiative, which has created what is now the European Union, was made. On 9 May in Paris, the French foreign minister Robert Schuman read to the international press a declaration (known as the Schuman declaration) calling France, Germany and other European countries to pool together their coal and steel production as “the first concrete foundation of a European federation”. France’s proposal was readily embraced by Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and in April 1951 they signed the agreement, founding the first European Community – the European Coal and Steel Community. In 1985, the Milan Summit officially declared 9 May as Europe Day.