Congress of Europe

The Hague Congress or the Congress of Europe

The Congress, organized by Duncan Sandys and Józef Retinger, brought together representatives from across a broad political spectrum, providing them with the opportunity to discuss ideas about the development of European political co-operation. It was held under the auspices of the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity, subsequently to become the European Movement after the Congress.^[2][3][4]

Important political figures such as

The Spanish statesman Salvador de Madariaga proposed the establishment of a College of Europe at the Congress. This would be a college where university graduates from many different countries, some only a short while before at war with each other, could study and live together.

The Congress also discussed the future structure and role of the

The Congress provided the means to heighten public opinion for European unity. On 20 July 1948, at the Hague meeting of ministers of

Preparation of the Congress

The Congress was organised by the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity. The creation of a Committee for the Co-ordination of the International Movements for European Unity was agreed at a meeting in Paris on 20 July 1947 convened by Sandys and Retinger to bring together a number of existing organisations working for European unity - the European League for Economic Cooperation, the United Europe Movement, the Nouvelles Equipes Internationales and the European Union of Federalists. The European Parliamentary Union also participated in the meeting but subsequently declined to join the committee. Renamed the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity in December 1947, Sandys was elected its chairman and Retigner its Honorary Secretary.^[5]

Whilst the European Union of Federalists and the European Parliamentary Union had clear federalist objectives, the other organisations, "confined themselves officially to vague formulas: they wanted to 'increase and cultivate opportunities for co-operation among European nations (ELEC), 'to ensure to the government of the day wide support for any action which tends towards European unity' (UEM) and in general to evolve pragmatically towards a confederal union".^[6]

Conclusions of the Congress

The Congress adopted three resolutions, each prepared by a Commission: a Political Resolution, an Economic and Social Resolution, and a Cultural Resolution.^[7][8][9]

The Political Resolution reflected the attempt to find common ground between the federalists and those who favoured a more gradualist, intergovernmental approach. As Retinger subsequently recalled, "There were heated debates, particularly in the Political Commission as the Federalists, led by Paul Reynaud, called for a European Constituent Assembly directly elected by the people of Europe. Others wanted a more modest consultative Assembly, more likely to prove more acceptable to the governments...for that reason the call for 'the pooling and transfer of sovereign rights' prevailed over that for a 'Federalist State'".^[10]

Participants (selection)

• Robert Schuman
• History of the European Communities (1945-1957)
• History of the European Union
• Council of Europe
• European Communities
• Federalist flag
• supranationalism
• supranational union
• Schuman Declaration

References

• Congress of Europe, May 1948; Council of Europe, 1999;
  ISBN 92-871-3918-0
• 1948-1988, 40 years European Movement: Congress of Europe, The Hague; European Movement, 1989;
  ISBN 3-7713-0350-8

External links

• Political resolution of the Hague congress CVCE
• Speak up Europe blog Archived 2014-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
• European Movement
• Archival sources on the Hague Congress (1948) are consultable at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence

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