Paris, 18/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - An international conference on this subject was held in Paris, at the National Assembly, on 9 and 10 May. This event -both commemorative and forward-looking- was organised under the joint patronage of the Association Jean Monnet and the Fondation Robert Schuman. Symbolically, the speaker's podium was dominated by two large portraits: a smiling Jean Monnet -"the inspirer", as General de Gaulle called him- and a thoughtful Robert Schuman -the decision maker-, who courageously carried forward the project and succeeded in convincing, first his colleagues from the French Government and then the leaders of five other governments, to take this "leap into the unknown", five years after the end of the war. It is impossible here to summarise or even mention all the more than 20 papers discussing the turning point of 9 May 1950 and the evolution of European integration, as well as the immediate future of the European Union: vital reforms, the upcoming enlargement, and the organisation of the world of tomorrow.
National Assembly President Mr Raymond Forni set the tone in his introductory remarks: "Where do we stand in Europe? Considerable results have been achieved, to such a point that they seem perfectly natural. The attraction of the European model is seen in the aspirations of the Central and Eastern European countries to be involved and to link their destinies to that of the Union. This is the outcome of the determined application of the method recommended after the war by Jean Monnet and taken up by Robert Schuman."
The papers presented included contributions by Alain Duhamel ("Europe: A Chance for France") and Anthony Rowley on the opposition, in 1950-51, of certain members of the French elite (politicians, employers, unionists) to the Schuman Plan. Francois Duchêne, a British former aide to Monnet, explained why the United Kingdom refused to support the objectives of this continental, and consequently suspect, objective. Professeur Jean-Louis Quermonne presented interesting suggestions on reform of the European institutions prior to enlargement, and Poland's former Prime Minister Piotr Nowina-Konopka, President of the Robert Schuman Foundation in Warsaw, expessed these countries' impatience, notably Poland's concern not to "miss the boat".
Two papers, by Jean Boissonnat and Michel Albert, dealt with the euro and the so-called "crisis of the euro", demonstrating that the solution to the problem, the importance of which must not be overestimated in the short term, does not principally concern technical measures but the political will of both natrional and European authorities.
Globalisation was addressed by Georges Berthoin, former aide to Monnet and Honourary President of the Trilateral Commission. Why, he asked, shouldn't the Monnet-Schuman method, consisting of an organised relationship between a power of analysis, conception and proposal on the one hand, and policy makers on the other, be put into practice at world level? But where, today, are the Monnets and Schumans with the necessary imagination and courage?
Also of interest were the papers presented by Professor Henri Rieben (Lausanne), Jean-Louis Bourlanges, Catherine Lalumière, François Bayrou (Members of the European Parliament), Anne-Marie Idrac (President of the European Movement - France), French European Affairs Ministers Pierre Moscovici, and Presidents Mario Soares and Nicole Fontaine. Raymond Barre made the concluding remarks -with panache and authority- of this colloquium whose proceedings are likely to remain, not a mere commemorative plaque on a historical monument, but a signpost for Europeans today and in the future.
For further information: Fondation Robert Schuman, 29 boulevard Raspail, F-75007 Paris (Tel: 331 53 63 83 00) and Association Jean Monnet, 9 bis rue Georges Berger, F-75017 Paris (tel: 331 56 33 71 00).