Today is Europe Day, a day to celebrate peace and unity in Europe! Earlier in the week, May 5^thwas a day designated to the Council of Europe, whereas today’s date designates the European Union.

Europe Day is simply an observance day and it’s not a public holiday. It is a political event, nevertheless, and the day attempts to teach people more about the ways in which the EU works and to speak in support of European integration.

In Paris in the spring of 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman first proposed the ideas behind what is now the European Union. Schuman called for European countries to pool together their coal and steel production and to form a supranational European Institution. Although the goals and values of the EU today much differ from those of Schman’s time, his proposal laid the foundation for today’s EU. Today, the European Union strives “to build a Europe which respects freedom and the identity of all of the people who live on this continent.” After all, the motto of the European Union is “united in diversity.”

Happy Europe Day!

Also in May:

World No-Tobacco Day – May 31st

International Day for UN Peacekeepers – May 29th

Africa Day – May 25th

The Day of Cyrillic Alphabet – May 24th

International Day for Biological Diversity – May 22nd

Cultural Diversity Day – May 21st

Cultural Diversity Day: A Special ‘Hello!’

World Day Against Homophobia – May 17th

World Telecommunications and Information Society Day – May 17th

Mastering the Art of Cheek Kissing

International Day of Families – May 15th

World Fair Trade Day – May 12th

Red Cross Crescent Day – May 8th

Wesak – May 5th

World Press Freedom Day – May 3rd

May Day – May 1st

Tags: Europe Day, European Union, Robert Schuman, Unity in Diversity

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 9:00 am and is filed under days of significance, Europe, General . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.