The Robert Schuman Foundation is Thirty Today!
A few months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a number of key figures created the Robert Schuman Foundation.
Poher, Lecanuet, Barre, Monory, François-Poncet, Albert, Villepin, Rigaud, Jung, Seitlinger, these were the names of those who had been involved in the return of democracy to Eastern Europe.
Some had worked with Robert Schuman, others had worked behind the Iron Curtain, all of them intended to devote themselves to the reunification of Europe.
Thanks to their influence and renown, the Foundation became the privileged interlocutor of dissidents and freedom fighters. Antall, Havel, Dubcek, Geremek, Walesa ....
It then supported the development of Europe and the transformation of the European Union.
As an authority on common policies, it has acquired undisputed credentials in the field of ideas and has influenced greatly some of the changes as the Community has grown. Its research, events and proposals are of significant value and often anticipate increasingly complex and numerous problems.
Over the past thirty years, European integration has constantly moved forward under the pressure of necessity.
The European states have not always shown themselves capable of controlling their own futures. And they have continued to pool their funds, their budgets, their currencies and now even their debts and their health policies.
True to Robert Schuman, the Foundation that bears his name continues to work for a Europe that respects national identities, but which is more efficient, a Europe that attracts more support from its citizens, but which is also gradually able to carry out tasks of the state.
The Father of Europe's pragmatism still inspires us; his example guides us. The balance sheet of 70 years of European Community reassures us.
It is not only peace that European integration has brought us, but also a new way of approaching public action, with more modesty, a greater sense of compromise, the reflex of cooperation and the conviction that long-term work is more useful than the passionate response of the moment.
We are convinced that there is still a lot to do to complete a project that is unique in the history of humanity, and we are putting all our energy into serving this ideal, which is greater than ourselves.
