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Schuman in Times of Upheaval

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Governance and Security Issues of the European Union

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Abstract

The European Union (EU) is struggling to survive. Its disintegration has been predicted and contradicted by ever more Europeans since the start of the financial crisis in 2008. European citizens protest and increasingly lack confidence in “Brussels.” Member States also show a lack of confidence in measures proposed by the EU. The EU is internally and externally surrounded by conflicts and humanitarian problems that it needs to face and help to solve, but does not seem able to soften in a proper way. This article focuses on the original vision on European unification of the “Father of Europe,” Robert Schuman, and applies it to today’s society. Schuman’s personality and background as a practising Catholic from the region of Alsace-Lorraine explain to a large extent the intrinsic content of his view on integration. They help to understand his sensitivity to transparency and his person-centred approach to integration which implies his stress on the subsidiarity and solidarity principles as crucial for a proper way of integration. He emphasised the need to protect regional, national and continental interests, unless these went against the national, European or universal common good. Schuman’s point of view shows that the problems faced by Europe today extend well beyond the economic and financial domain. Thus, an analysis is welcomed with regards to the above-mentioned principles and concepts which laid the basis for the European project. This chapter will further add an interpretation of Schuman’s way of thinking on current topics to underline the topicality of his insights.

World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.

Schuman’s first words of the Schuman Declaration, 9 May 1950. See: Krijtenburg 2012, pp. 204–207.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Pope Francis 2014.

  2. 2.

    BBC News 15 April 2015. European External Union Action (2015).

  3. 3.

    Krijtenburg 2012, Schuman 1950, preface.

  4. 4.

    Many think Jean Monnet is, together with his team, the protagonist of the Schuman Declaration based on the detailed description of Monnet’s Mémoires about this period, and on Monnet’s noticeable presence in European affairs. This last decade, however, there is increasing evidence that Schuman and his staff were the brains behind the Schuman Declaration. This “discovery” is based on archives that opened and facilitated the study of Schuman’s speeches, writings and actions of the years before, during and after the Declaration. See: Krijtenburg 2012, pp. 117–123.

    This acknowledgement denies the former suppositions such as mentioned in Milward 1984, p. 395. “The Schuman Plan was invented to safeguard the Monnet Plan”; Judt 2005, p. 156. “Monnet proposed to France’s Foreign Minister what became known to history as the Schuman Plan.” Also Segers was not yet aware of the latest investigations in this field as is evidenced in: Segers 2013. Segers’s lecture 2014 in which he minimized Schuman’s role to one that did not need to be given any special attention.

  5. 5.

    See: Lejeune 2000, Chap. 21.

  6. 6.

    Ibid., Chap. 15.

  7. 7.

    See: Price 2014, p. 13. Translated by the author of the article. «l’inauguration d’une nouvelle politique qui constituera probablement l’ultime tentative pour sauver notre continent et préserver le monde du suicide.»

  8. 8.

    See also: Gerbet 1962.

  9. 9.

    Schuman 1950. He refers to the impossibility of war between the archenemies Germany and France as that was the main issue to be dealt with for centuries already, but the interdependence counts for all states concerned. «La solidarité de production qui sera ainsi nouée manifestera que toute guerre entre la France et L’Allemagne devient non seulement impensable, mais matériellement impossible».

  10. 10.

    Krijtenburg 2012, pp. 17–24.

  11. 11.

    As a side note, it might be observed that the Roman Catholic Church is the oldest and biggest international organization for social development in the world. The Papacy’s opposition to ideologies and situations that endanger human dignity is acknowledged by many irrespective of their (non) faith.

  12. 12.

    Roth 2008, p. 562.

  13. 13.

    See: Leo XIII 1891. The subsidiarity principle was first explained by Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274).

  14. 14.

    Krijtenburg 2012, pp. 125-173.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., pp. 117–125. Reuter 1980. Gerbet 1962.

  16. 16.

    Schuman 1950.

  17. 17.

    See:Krijtenburg 2012, p. 272.

  18. 18.

    Schuman at Palais des Fêtes, Strasbourg 16 May 1949. See also: Price 2003, p. 52. See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 187.

  19. 19.

    Worthwhile in this regard is that Schuman, a politician, is in a process of beatification since 2004. The last and only politician until now (2016) who was beatified was Thomas More in the 16th century. These processes usually take several years.

  20. 20.

    Schuman 2010a, pp. 43–45. See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 224.

  21. 21.

    For Schuman “Solidarity highlights in a particular way the intrinsic social nature of the human person, the equality of all in dignity and rights and the common path of individuals and peoples towards an ever more committed unity.” Compendium of the social doctrine of the Church 2004, No. 192.

  22. 22.

    Schuman 1950.

  23. 23.

    Ibid.

  24. 24.

    From Heilbron Price D (not yet published).

  25. 25.

    Schuman 1950.

  26. 26.

    Schuman 2010a, p. 30. See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 217.

  27. 27.

    Ibid., Schuman 2010a, p. 30. See: Ibid., Krijtenburg 2012, p. 66.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., Krijtenburg 2012, p. 69.

  29. 29.

    Price 2014. The Statutes were signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Belgium (Spaak), Denmark (Rasmussen), France (Schuman), Irish Republic (MacBride), Italy (Sforza), Luxembourg (Bech), The Netherlands (Stikker), Norway (Lange), Sweden (Undén), the UK (Bevin).

  30. 30.

    Schuman quoted by Price 1997, p. vii.

  31. 31.

    Schuman refers to the Marshall Plan with its financial aid that required economic co-operation among European states so as to rebuild its continent and be able to confront communism.

  32. 32.

    Schuman 1950.

  33. 33.

    Schuman 2010a, 58. See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 165.

  34. 34.

    Schuman’s Speech at Council of Europe Strasbourg. See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 69.

  35. 35.

    Schuman 2010a, pp. 26–27. See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 173.

  36. 36.

    Pope Francis 2015.

  37. 37.

    This observation is supported by Ban Ki-moon in his Address at the International Symposium on Climate Change at Pontifical Academy of Science, Vatican. According to him “Climate change is intrinsically linked to public health, food and water security, migration, peace and security. It is a moral issue of social justice, human rights and fundamental ethics. […] Science and religion are not at odds on climate change. Indeed, they are fully aligned. […] Our response has to be global, holistic and rooted in universal values. […] We need to see, with the eyes of faith … the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person.” Zenit, Rome 2015.

  38. 38.

    Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church 2014, No. 19.

  39. 39.

    See also: Gruyter 2015.

  40. 40.

    Coexister: a French interreligious movement erected after the Charlie Hebdo attack on 7 January 2015. The movement has a large impact on the French society, won a state Prize for fostering social cohesion and has international reach-out. See Coexister 2016.

  41. 41.

    Schuman Speech at the signatures of Statutes of the Council of Europe, London, 5 May 1949. […] l’exemple et la persuasion seront nos seuls moyens dans une entreprise qui sera exclusivement pacifique et constructive. Nous ne menacerons personne en nous associant en vue d’une aide mutuelle; mais nous servons en même temps l’Europe dans son ensemble en créant le noyau d’une Europe renouvelée, régénérée dans les épreuves communes et consciente de son éternelle mission civilisatrice.

  42. 42.

    Schuman 2010a, pp. 143–144. See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 174.

  43. 43.

    See: Krijtenburg 2012, p. 174. Schuman quoted in: Muñoz 2008, p. 47. «Nous devons, nous voulons rendre à l’Europe son rayonnement, sa force, son indépendance, en d’autres termes la rendre à sa mission séculaire de guide et d’arbitre».

  44. 44.

    Schuman 2010a pp. 26–27. Krijtenburg 2012 p. 173.

  45. 45.

    Compendium of the Social doctrine of the Church 2004, n. 194.

  46. 46.

    The spiritual heritage Schuman speaks about finds its secular outlook in the Human Rights Declaration of 1948, see Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) 217 A (III) http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf, accessed on 1 July 2016.

  47. 47.

    In Schuman’s Speech at General Assembly UNESCO 1947, Synthèses, pp. 271–282. 1947, translated by the author of the article. «Si un état de paix qui mérite vraiment ce nom et qui soit solide et durable doit être établi un jour entre les peuples, cela ne dépendra pas seulement des arrangements politiques, économiques et financiers conclus par les diplomates et les hommes d’État, cela ne dépendra pas seulement de l’édification juridique d’un organisme coordinateur véritablement supranational pourvu d’efficaces moyens d’action, cela dépendra aussi de l’adhésion profonde obtenue dans la conscience des hommes par des principes pratiques tels que les droits de l’homme».

  48. 48.

    Der Internationale Karlspreis zu Aachen (2016).

  49. 49.

    Schuman 2010b p. 30. «L’Europe qui est encore aujourd’hui divisée et déchirée, continue de prendre toujours plus conscience de sa vocation à former le cœur d’une coopération pacifique de tous les peuples et de toutes les races au service d’une humanité embrassant tous les continents».

  50. 50.

    Pope Francis 2014.

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  1. The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Johanna Westerdijkplein 75, 2521 EN, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Margriet Krijtenburg

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  1. Margriet Krijtenburg
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Correspondence to Margriet Krijtenburg .

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  1. Faculty of Governance, Law and Security (BRV), The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Jaap de Zwaan

  2. Faculty of Management & Organisation, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Martijn Lak

  3. Faculty of Governance, Law and Security (BRV), The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Abiola Makinwa

  4. Faculty of Governance, Law and Security (BRV), The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Piet Willems

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Krijtenburg, M. (2016). Schuman in Times of Upheaval. In: de Zwaan, J., Lak, M., Makinwa, A., Willems, P. (eds) Governance and Security Issues of the European Union. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-144-9_3

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