The progressive construction of a united Europe is one of the most original undertakings of this century. This bears no resemblance whatsoever to previous attempts to unify the continent: it does not arise from the will to power of any nation-state. It is based on the free union of peoples, agreed on from a position of equality, and with consent to the renunciation of areas of national sovereignty. It is also very different from the creation of the United States: rather than starting with a relatively blank slate, for nations which have been combattants for so long, and whose histories are in fact composed of their antagonisms, its aim is to bring an end to conflicts and create cohesion without loss of identity.

The beginnings of this movement followed closely after the end of the last World War. The desire to create a lasting peace inspired the proposal made by France to its neighbours, particularly Germany, the former enemy, to manage in common and submit to a supra-national authority the resources which had been, in the past, the objects of rivalry and weapons of domination: coal and steel. In initiating the reconciliation of adversaries, the declaration of Robert Shuman of 9 May 1950 was the foundation stone in the construction of Europe.

This development has continued, with some pauses and periods of abeyance. Shared jurisdictions have expanded: after the European community for coal and steel, there followed the formation of a common market with the treaties of Rome (March 1957), the creation of a common agricultural policy, the institution of a European monetary system, the progressive extension into other sectors of activity and since the treaty of Maastricht, the march towards a single currency - the euro - and the design of common policies in matters of defence and foreign affairs. At the same time, Europe has gained new institutions: the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the European Court, with member states recognising the authority of European law above national laws.

The number of member countries has grown in several stages - six, nine, twelve to fifteen today; with the prospect in the near future of the entry of countries further afield, particularly in central and eastern Europe, now masters of their own destiny. The issue today is how to enlarge the union without weakening it, in order to make Europe an independent and decisive force in the world as well as a guarantor of peace.