On 9 May 2020 we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the “Schuman declaration”, which owes its name to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs of the time, Robert Schuman, and which represents the founding text of European integration, followed, one year after, by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
In his declaration, Schuman proposed to the future Member States “The pooling of coal and steel production” in order to “… change the destinies of those regions [in France and Germany] which have long been devoted to the manufacture of munitions of war …”
The most essential words, still valid today for us who feel lost and on edge in the face of a pandemic that is turning our lives upside down, are – in my opinion – the following: “… Europe will not be made at once, … It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity”.
In this message I can read a warning, but also the opportunity to save ourselves by means of the best qualities humankind possesses, i.e. generosity, helpfulness towards others, sharing.
Several colleagues have lost their jobs and feel hopeless: let’s make sure that nobody is forgotten, that nobody is left behind.