Libertas.org

It’s interesting that the claim is made that Schuman (without question a superb fellow for whom we have much to thank) was the man that thought up the vision of the European Union. I just don’t think that’s correct and furthermore it’s a rather dull and unimaginative perspective (traits not uncommon in Brussels).

When one looks over the course of European history, there are so very many figures that envisioned a unified Europe. All of these are the subjects of volumes of books but to mention a few: Various Roman emperors leading up to and including Constantine, very much a unifier. The Catholic & Orthodox Churches, Charlemagne, a string of European royal households including the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons, Napoleon, a certain unmentionable fellow with a particularly twisted take on European unity (and a ridiculously small moustache), and lets not forget Winston Churchill who Europe has so much to thank for.

Churchill clearly stated the need for a united Europe; in 1939-40 he proposed the political union of France and Britain, a point that most seem to forget. After the war he had proposed a single European army. Churchill was also the initiator of the Hague conference of May 1948, which met with the specific objective of promoting a United Europe. Take a look at his Zurich University speech from September 1946. I’m now going to quote from the biography “Churchill” by Roy Jenkins..

“[Strasbourg] on 11 August 1949, he addressed an open-air crowd of 20,000 in the Place Kleber. Such spontaneous enthusiasm for the European cause has never been seen in Strasbourg before; nor has it been seen since.……”

He went on to face the sovereignty issue directly. Mutual aid in the economic field and joint military defences, he said, must ‘inevitably be accompanied step by step with a parallel policy of closer political unity’. ‘It is said with truth’ he continued, ‘that this involves some sacrifice or merger of national sovereignty. But it is also possible and not less agreeable to regard it as the gradual assumption by all the nations concerned of that larger sovereignty which can also protect their distinctive customs and characteristics…’ A little earlier (21 April) he had told an Albert Hall meeting of the Conservative party that ‘there would be no hope for the world unless the peoples of Europe unite together to preserve their freedom, their culture, and their civilization founded upon Christian ethics’

Point being that choosing Europe day as May 9th because Schuman made a speech that day to get Europeans to combine their coal and steel production, just isn’t the stuff that stirs the average heart. Charlemagnes coronation date, or his birthday, or the date of Constantine’s victory at Saxa Rubra, are the stuff of longer lasting fame and might make for a more creative Europe day….at least someone outside the eurocracy might know its happening.

Finally, I would say that as Europeans we need to get away from this very drab tendency to suggest that a united Europe was something invented in the 50’s. This is a great and ancient idea and it is that which will be more likely to speak to the hearts and imagination of Europeans.