‘The EU is a way of managing the pressures of globalisation’

‘The EU is a way of managing the pressures of globalisation’

"‘The EU is a way of managing the pressures of globalisation’
On the anniversary of the historic Schuman declaration, the European Union explains how it plans to turn present and future challenge to its advantage

May 9, or Europe Day, is the anniversary of the Schuman declaration. Speaking in Paris in 1950, Robert Schuman, then foreign minister of France, proposed a new form of political arrangement for Europe, whose aim was to make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable. Over 50 years later we recognise his vision paved the way to our current European Union, and brought Western Europe an unprecedented period of peace.

The creation and success of the European project has been described as “one of those events which happen in the world only every four or five hundred years”. The last 20 years have seen remarkable progress, from the deepening of the world’s largest single market to the widening of the Union from 15 to 25 countries. Indeed, the European Union is constantly evolving, as it seeks to keep pace with the changing demands of its citizens, and the changing nature of the world around us."