The Evolution of the EU

Abstract

The idea of `Europe' has been with us for centuries, but the European Union has been a reality for barely fifty years. It was only after the Second World War that all the theories about the possible benefits of European integration were finally tested in practice. There were a number of false starts, but the birth of what is now the European Union took place at a press conference on 9 May 1950, at which French foreign minister Robert Schuman announced a plan he had agreed with French businessman Jean Monnet and West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer to bring the coal and steel industries of France and Germany under the administration of a single joint authority.