Usine à Gaz

Schuman Declaration

French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposes a plan to transform Europe through a step-by-step process with the aim to make a future war in Europe impossible and lead to the unification of the continent.

The Union shall contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore.

(Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Title XIII, Article 167)

Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris establishes the European Coal and Steel Community, which aims to build a common market for coal and steel in order to prevent future conflicts over these valuable resources.

The ECSC is a precursor of later European organisations.
The founding members of the Community are Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.
A Common assembly of “the people’s representatives” is established under the treaty.

Hungarian uprising

An uprising in Hungary in late October against the country’s Communist government prompts an invasion of Soviet forces that suppresses all opposition to Communist rule.

Treaty of Rome

The Treaty of Rome establishes a European Economic Community with the aim of building a customs union among member states, and a European Atomic Energy Community to promote cooperation in the nuclear field.

European Parliamentary assembly

The first meeting of the common assembly of the three European communities is held in Strasbourg, France. Members are not organised in national delegations but along political lines. Robert Schuman becomes the first president of the institution known as the European Parliamentary Assembly.

The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall is built. Over the years it becomes a symbol of separation of the Soviet-dominated eastern bloc from the rest of the continent.

European Parliamentary assembly became European Parliament

The parliamentary assembly starts calling itself the European Parliament, a name only officially sanctioned in 1987.

Yaoundé Convention

The EU signs its first big international agreement (The Yaoundé Convention), a deal to help 18 former African colonies. By 2005, it has a special partnership with 78 countries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions. The EU is the world’s biggest provider of development assistance to poorer countries. Its aid is linked to the respect of human rights.