Europe Day is a day celebrating "peace and unity in Europe" celebrated on 5 May by the Council of Europe and on 9 May by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. The first recognition of Europe Day was by the Council of Europe, introduced in 1964. The European Union later started to celebrate its own European DayNicole Scicluna, ''European Union Constitutionalism in Crisis'', Routledge (2014)
p. 56
/ref> in commemoration of the 1950 Schuman Declaration which first proposed the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemb ...

, leading it to be referred to by some as "Schuman Day" or "Day of the united Europe". Both days are celebrated by displaying the Flag of Europe.

History

The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949, and hence it chose that day for its celebrations when it established the holiday in 1964. The "Europe Day" of the EU was introduced in 1985 by the European Communities (the predecessor organisation of the EU). The date commemorates the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950, put forward by Robert Schuman, which proposed the pooling of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and West German

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

industries. This led to the creation of the

, the first European Community, established on 18 April 1951. A "raft of cultural icons" was launched by the European Commission in 1985, in reaction to the report by the ad hoc commission "for a People's Europe" chaired by Pietro Adonnino. The aim was to facilitate European integration by fostering a Pan-European identity among the populations of the EC member states. The European Council adopted "Europe Day" along with the flag of Europe and other items on 29 June 1985, in Milan.Nicole Scicluna, ''European Union Constitutionalism in Crisis'', Routledge (2014)
p. 55
Following the foundation of the

in 1993, observance of Europe Day by national and regional authorities increased significantly.

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

in particular has gone beyond celebrating just the day, since 1995 extending the observance to an entire "Europe Week" (') centered on 9 May. In Poland, the , a Polish organisation advocating European integration established in 1991, first organised its Warsaw ' on Europe Day 1999, at the time advocating the accession of Poland to the EU. Observance of 9 May as "Europe Day" was reported "across Europe" as of 2008. In 2019, 9 May became an official public holiday in Luxembourg each year, to mark Europe Day. The EU's choice of the date of foundation of the

rather than that of the EU itself established a narrative in which Schuman's speech, concerned with inducing economic growth and cementing peace between France and Germany, is presented as anticipating a "vocation of the European Union to be the main institutional framework" for the much further-reaching European integration of later decades. The European Constitution would have legally enshrined all the European symbols in the EU treaties, however the treaty failed to be ratified in 2005, and usage would continue only in the present ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' manner. The Constitution's replacement, the Treaty of Lisbon, contains a declaration by sixteen members supporting the symbols. The

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

"formally recognised" Europe Day in October 2008.

Celebrations and commemorations

Open Doors Day

The EU institutions open their doors to the public every year in Brussels and Strasbourg, allowing citizens to visit the places where decisions impacting their day-to-day lives are made. Moreover, many of these organize commemorative events to honor the historical importance of the date. The bodies that choose to make this symbolic gesture are: *

(EP) *

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

(EC) * European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) * The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) In 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent inability to host physical events, the EU institutions organized virtual acts to pay tribute to all those Europeans who were collaborating in the fight against the pandemic. Furthermore, 2020 marked the 70th anniversary of the Schuman declaration and the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Given the occasion, the above mentioned EU institutions launched several online events to commemorate the importance of the date.

Legal recognition

Europe Day is a public holiday for employees of European Union institutions. In 2019, it was declared a public holiday in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, and is also a public holiday in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. It is a "memorial day" in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

, which is a legally-recognised day, but is not a public holiday; a legally-recognised commemorative day in Lithuania; and a "flag day" (german: Beflaggungstag) in

, where flags are ordered to be shown by federal decree. Europe Day is also celebrated in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, where it coincides with the State Independence Day of Romania (Romania's independence day).

References

External links

The symbols of the EU
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Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Clif ...