And it’s no coincidence that all of Europe is showing off: in all EU Member States, 9 May is Europe Day since 1985. The date celebrates the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950 that prefigured the European Economic Community and established the founding text of the European Union, historians say.

“World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it”. This was the quote, from Robert Schuman’s speech given on 9 May 1950, used by French president Macron to start his speech on 9 May 2022 in the closing of the Conference on the future of Europe.

For one year, said Macron, the Conference on the future of Europe offered European citizens a unique opportunity, “an unprecedented democratic exercise, which does not consist in presenting our citizens with perhaps overly simple alternatives, for and against, but fully involving them in discussions on the future of our Europe”.

This “unprecedented journey”, according to the European Commission, of one year of discussion, debate and collaboration with citizens and political figures gave birth to a report based on 49 propositions including concrete objectives and more than 320 actions to be implemented by EU institutions. These citizens’ propositions to revamp or improve the EU are grouped under several sections: economy, social justice and employment, education, culture, youth and sports, digital transformation, democracy, climate change and environment, health, migrations.

All those themes, all contributions on those themes make a “historical challenge” according to Emmanuel Macron, who spoke about “solutions, some of which could be applied immediately, others which need to be developed, but all working towards building this Europe of today and tomorrow”.

So the European Commission will ensure a careful examination and follow-up of each of these propositions, and a meeting about the future of these citizen propositions is already set in September. And, as Macron reminded, France will “make sure that this exercise is not just an exercise of style or merely an example of a method”, but “that it truly results in practical work, powerful and tangible developments and that the citizens of Europe can reap their benefits”.

Before unveiling what measures will be implemented, France hosts throughout the month of May an operation called Joli mois de l’Europe (The Merry Month of Europe). As organisers of the event describe, Europe is indeed celebrated at a precise date, but “why limit it to only one day?”  Indeed, each year, during the month of May, the Merry Month of Europe allows civil society, institutions and European project leaders to “show how Europe is involved in the daily life of citizens”.

This operation, initiated since 2010 under the supervision of the ministry in charge of territorial cohesion and relations with local authorities, aims to talk about Europe to as many people as possible. More precisely, according to the ministry, “it aims to bring the European Union closer to the general public and to show its social usefulness in a concrete way in the territories, by inviting citizens, for whom Europe can sometimes seem abstract and distant, to take part in events and activities”. Activities (to be discovered on the dedicated website) include:  visits to projects financed by Europe, cycling or walking tours to discover these EU-supported projects, simulations of European Parliament sessions, actions in the framework of twinning between European cities, but also exhibitions, language cafés, conferences on European themes, and more.

Participants will also enjoy L’Europe en BD (Europe in comic strips), an initiative from the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image, who organised an exhibition retracing the history of European construction in a colourful and entertaining way.

In the form of a 13-strips comics, this exhibition tells the most important events and key steps of the European Union’s history. It is displayed on the bars of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (at the Quai d’Orsay in Paris) since 6 May, but is also accessible online on the Ministry’s website. You can read, in the form of colourful and pseudo-naive scenes by two French artists (Mathieu Sapin and Kokopello), the first declaration of Robert Schuman in the Clock Room of the Quai d’Orsay on 9 May 1950, but also the launch of the first European rocket in space, and the recent European recovery plan agreement in July 2020. As the ministry concludes, “Europe in a comic strip will show you the great moments that have built the Europe that we know today”.

To know more: 

• The conference on the future of Europe
• The merry month of Europe
• Europe in a comic strip

Photo credit: ©Grecaud Paul - stock.adobe.com