Today is a special day for Europe. 50 years ago a treaty was signed in Rome which came to establish the European Union. With such a significant milestone it is useful to look back and remind ourselves of why the Union came to exist and what we have achieved over the years.

The two World Wars ravaged our continent to the extent that by early 1950s there was a genuine need to ensure that such atrocities against humankind would not happen again. Europe needed peace, and so did the rest of the world. The European project of cooperation was favourably regarded by countries such as the United States, which understood that Europe?s fate was closely linked to the future of all people. The world needed a stable Europe almost as much as did the Europeans themselves.

The European cooperation started with coal and steel in 1952. The French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed to the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to pool coal and steel production. That day marks the Europe Day which we celebrate on May 9. Robert Schuman?s plan integrated the six countries? heavy industries under a common management so that none could make its own weapons of war to fight each other as had happened in the past. Five years later ; Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy decided to go further in their collaboration and signed the Treaties of Rome. That text created the European Union and is the reason of our celebrations today, half a century later.

At the date of the signature of the Treaties of Rome a number of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries had not yet gained independence. For this reason special relations, which are in force still today, were established with the ACP countries.

The Union has enlarged from six countries in 1957 to 27 today ? a process which surely must be regarded as one of the greatest examples of peaceful and voluntary spread of freedom and democracy in the world. In fifty years we have seen southern European fascist rule break up and eastern and central Euro-pean communist regimes dissolve. The Union has spread wealth and prosperity to underdeveloped areas. We have created a single market, a common currency and shared policies. Most importantly, European integration has made another European war unthinkable.

The peace, freedom and solidarity we now enjoy have taken a lot of hard work to achieve and we must work equally hard to maintain and improve it as we look forward to the next half-century. The world is constantly changing and there is a new set of challenges facing us. Globalisation means our interests and responsibilities do not stop at our borders. The last European Council meeting showed that the Union is well-equipped to respond to global issues such as climate change. We are also fighting poverty and injustice in different parts of the world, especially in Africa. We are the largest development and trading partner and we take pride in the cooperation we have with other countries and international actors.

The Treaties of Rome stood for the reconciliation and rapprochement of the Europeans. The progress we have made has been immense. Our vision for the future is guided by our common values ? peace, democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and equality.

I believe in the European project which to me proves that the interests of states lie in cooperation, not in conflict.

<B> Claudia WIEDEY</B> Head of EC Delegation