Back to the future

Six decades after its formation, the European Movement is returning to The Hague to debate the past – and future – of Europe, says Pat Cox

When it gathered under the presidency of Winston Churchill in The Hague in May 1948, exactly three years after the end of the Second World War in Europe, the Congress of Europe recognised in its final declaration that the continent was poised between a “great peril” and a “great hope”.

Just over two years earlier, Churchill had remarked in a famous speech in Fulton, Missouri, that “from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent”. Six months later, at the university of Zurich in September 1946, he suggested that “we must build a kind of US of Europe”, arguing that “the first step in the re-creation of the European family must be a partnership between France and Germany”. Churchill’s war record and his post-war prescience had earned him a respected place at the highest European table of its day, the Congress of Europe.

The times indeed veered between peril and hope. Speaking in Harvard in June 1947, George Marshall, the US Secretary of State, held out hope for a devastated Europe by unveiling an unprecedented plan to assist European economic regeneration. By September, the Soviets responded with the establishment of the Kominform to reinforce Moscow’s authority and control over the communist parties in its post-Yalta sphere of influence. In February 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in a Soviet-backed coup d’état, took control of the government. This was an early and disturbing milestone in the emerging cold war.

In March, the Brussels treaty was signed establishing the Western European Union to guarantee mutual security among its signatory states. By mid-April, the organisation for European economic cooperation was set up to administer and oversee the allocation of aid flows under the Marshall plan. The pace of change was extraordinary but it reflected the pace of events.

The idea of a European renaissance was beginning to take root. An international committee for European unity was established in 1947 to prepare the future Congress of Europe, bringing together pro-European organisations and activists from economic and cultural affairs to federalists. Heavy restrictions on the free circulation of people, goods and capital, together with food shortages and rationing were just part of the challenging context in which the 750 delegates to the Congress of Europe met in The Hague in May 1948, some 60 years ago. They rose to the challenge declaring that “the hour has come to take action commensurate with the danger”. By 1949, their convictions on human rights, the rule of law and the dignity of the person bore fruit with the establishment of the College of Europe and the Council of Europe.

After the Hague Congress, the European Movement was formally created on 25 October 1948 to keep the spirit and connections alive. Duncan Sandys was elected president and Léon Blum, Winston Churchill, Alcide De Gasperi and Paul-Henri Spaak were elected as honorary presidents.

Six decades later, the European Movement will return to The Hague on 23-24 May to honour its past but also to invite 300 representatives of civil society to respond to the call to generate ‘60 ideas for Europe’ that will contribute to our common future. Times and challenges have changed. We have found Europe, but too often we struggle to find Europeans. We have direct elections to the European parliament but too often European issues and perspectives struggle to find expression during our European election campaigns. This anniversary event will end with televised debates, involving the presidents of the European parliament, council and commission, followed by a debate between the leaders of the four European political parties associated with the European Movement. The debates are open to regional opt-ins throughout Europe. They also will be available on the internet.