Many wars and conflicts on the European continent for centuries, and finally two destructive world wars in the 20th century gave birth to the idea of a united Europe, which European leaders believed would become possible through political and economic integration.

Inspired by the idea of Jean Monet, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman put forward the initiative on 9 May 1950 to create European Coal and Steel Community.  The plan was a proposal to place coal and steel production of the warring states under a single authority. European Coal and Steel Community was launched in 1951 to bring together six states – Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the Netherlands. As a result, the raw materials necessary for war (steel and coal) became instruments of reconciliation and peace. The successful cooperation clearly showed that the integration process was irreversible and had to be further deepened.

Over the centuries, the European continent saw many bloody wars, and as a result of the Second World War, Europe was left with millions of people dead, economy in ruins and fragile security. It was clear that peace between countries could only be achieved through economic and political integration.

The idea of a united Europe was first voiced by the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, in a speech at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, on 19 September 1946:  “We must re-create the European family in a regional structure called, it may be, the United States of Europe” – Churchill said. There was, however, no follow-through on Churchill’s idea.  Churchill did not express Britain’s official position on the European Union, because the United Kingdom perceived itself as a global power, whose foreign policy priority was relations with the United States of America and its Commonwealth (former and existing colonies). Based on this, Great Britain had a negative attitude towards the concept of the European Union.

9 May 1950 serves to be the turning point of European integration, when the French politician Jean Monnet’s initiative was announced by the foreign minister of the same country, Robert Schumann, who came up with a proposal to put together the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. According to Jean Monnet’s initiative, the historical rivals – France and Germany – were to unite with other European countries in order to no longer be able to process coal and steel independently. Jean Monnet’s proposal was based on the idea that that there were two things a country needed before it could make war: iron for producing ammunition and coal to provide the energy for factories and railways. The subordination of the production and sale of these essential resources to a common supranational body (the “High Authority”) would serve the ultimate goal of ensuring the peaceful coexistence of Germany and France and deepening the economic and political interdependence of the two countries.

As a result, “European Coal and Steel Community” was established in 1951 to include six states – Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the Netherlands. It was decided to create an independent supranational body, the so-called “High Authority which would deal with issues related to the production and sale of coal and steel in these countries. Jean Monnet was appointed as the first president of the High Authority. A common market for iron, coal, ore and scrap was created in 1953; the same year, the common steel market was also created.

Two years later, in the Italian city of Messina, the foreign ministers of the six countries agreed to continue the integration process (known as the Messina Initiative). An intergovernmental committee was created to prepare the Treaty of Rome laying the foundations for the European Economic Community – EEC. An important aspect of the Treaty of Rome was the agreement on the creation of a common market, which would lead to the formation of a customs union in the future. The common market envisaged the abolition of barriers to movement of goods, services, capital and people between the member states of the European Union. The Treaty of Rome also laid the foundation for the development of a common agricultural and trade policy.

The European Atomic Energy Community, the so-called EURATOM was established by one of the treates of Rome.   The goal of EURATOM was the creation of a common atomic energy market in Europe, namely: development of atomic energy industry, distribution of energy to the member states of the Community and sale of the remaining resources to non-member countries.

In 1967, the Brussels Treaty (Merger Treaty) unified the above-mentioned three organizations: the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community (hereinafter the European Community) and the executive bodies of EURATOM – the Commission (hereinafter the European Commission) and the Council into one institutional system called the “European Communities”, on the basis of which, the 1992 Maastricht Treaty  established “European Union”.

Today, The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political union between 27 European countries aiming to promote peace, prosperity and freedom for 446 million people.