1. Editorial

Dear Europeans,

Welcome to our EU city guide! The summer is getting close and all of us have already our minds on the holidays. We propose you a different way to know the history of the European Union through the main cities that have been the scenario of important dates in the construction process. You will have the possibility to rediscover your continent and feel the history walking on its streets. But, what about doing a bit of history too?

The process of ratification of the Constitution is running. After Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain and Italy the battle continues. France is going to be the first difficult fight and the results so far are not very optimistic. According to the polls more than 54% of the electorate would vote “no” in case that the Referendum would be held today. The result in France will have consequences in the rest of the Union and so the discussion about what to do if the referendum in France fails, already started weeks before the date on which the French are called to attend the polls. However, we cannot accept the results yet. We, as European citizens, Federalists and “Pro-Constitution” have to put all our efforts in winning this battle. The campaign in France should be the main issue for all the national sections in JEF now. There is no other topic more relevant in our current agenda and we have to use all the possible opportunities we have in order to express our support for the “OUI”. As you will see, Paris is the first stop in our EU tour, but will be as well the meeting point for all the JEFers on the 14th of May. A big action in support for the Constitution will take place on the streets of the French capital, and we hope that as many people as possible will join us. Nevertheless, if you don’t have the chance to travel to Paris, you can organize an action in your own city, show how European you are, be French for one day!

In the next edition we are going to focus in the hot cities in the last decade. Bon voyage!

Constitutional greetings,

Editor in Chief

NOTE: This Information Newsletter will continue to be published in 2005 and will provide information on different topics of European interest.

Your contributions are welcome at newsletter@giveeuropeaface.net. You can read all articles of this Bulletin in full length on: http://www.giveeuropeaface.net

Contact details follow at the end of this newsletter.

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2. 1951 Paris

Always a classic! Walking along the Seine with your beloved is a perfect way to spend your holidays. You will have the opportunity to enjoy the famous baguettes, with kisses and excellent wine, but besides that you will be in the city that saw the birth of the prelude of European Union as we know it today.
The Treaty of the European Steel and Coal Community , the first and founding instrument of the European Union, that defined the main European institutions in a initial form was signed on 18 April 1951 in Paris and came into force on 25 July 1952 (expired on 23 July 2002). It was the result of the Schuman Declaration the 9th of May of 1950 which proposed that Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole would be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of the other countries of Europe. Every year it is commemorated all around Europe the Europe Day on the 9th of May.

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3. 1955 Messina

For an enthusiastic football fan Messina means first and foremost FC Messina, a team playing in the Italian Serie-A. Messina is situated in the north-eastern coast of the Sicily region, right where the “boot hits the ball”.
In 1954 plans to create a European Defence Community (to replace the national armies of Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries with a common defence force) collapsed when France refused to ratify the Treaty. The 'Six' thereupon turned their attention to the idea of a customs union, meeting at Messina in 1955 to entrust Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium with the production of the report which led to the 1957 Treaty of Rome and the formation of the EEC, or Common Market.
Obviously they just wanted to see some of that impassionate Italian football and enjoy the Mediterranean while arguing about the future of Europe.

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4. 1956 Rome

Still in Italy, you can always visit the Capital of the Roman Empire, centre of culture and power during centuries. You can even reproduce the famous film “Roman Holiday” with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck , rent your own Vespa and travel across the city.
Following the success of the ECSC (and the failure of the European Defence Community), these two communities initiated the organization of the economic and atomic energy areas. The Treaty of the European Economic Community (EEC) and Treaty of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) were both signed on 25 March 1957 in Rome and came into force on 1 January 1958.

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5. 1966 Luxembourg

Have you ever heard Luxembourgish? Have you ever met someone from Luxembourg? The Member state holding the Presidency until the end of June can be a good option for you too! The small country bordering Belgium, France and Germany is big enough to have one of the seats of the European Parliament, the Court of Auditors and the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

This compromise allowed unanimous decision-making to remain and it also limited the rights of initiative of the Commission, thereby strengthening the role of the Council of Permanent Representatives. It set the decision-making patterns for the next two decades after the boycott of the President of the French Republic Mr Charles de Gaulle to all community institutions unless its national interests were recognized and the decision to move to majority decision-making was reverse. It also resolved the dead-lock on agriculture and community funding.

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6. 1985 Schengen

Does it sound an appealing place to have holidays, maybe party a bit and afterwards pamper yourself with a good continental breakfast in a rustic, small lodge after all that hard work during the winter? Schengen? “Oh, heck, isn’t it the line which you choose at the airport?” you might wonder. “Doesn’t it mean that one can travel all around Europe without needing a passport?“.

Before the Treaty, Schengen was a picturesque and miniscule town with a classical 19th century castle. It is told that Victor Hugo, who was inspired of the beautiful figure of the castle has made a small sketch on it. Schengen is located in the heart of Luxembourg where five EU countries (France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) agreed to abolish all checks on people travelling between them. This created a territory without internal borders which became known as the Schengen area. To be precise, the agreement was signed aboard the ship Princesse Marie-Astrid on the Moselle River, near Schengen.

Currently the Schengen area is composed by: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. It has to be implemented the inclusion of the 10 new members that joined the Union last year. As you certainly realised, Ireland and the United Kingdom are not parties to the agreement so far. However, the addition of Switzerland is foreseen to take place in the next 3 years.

From now on, you can impress your friends, just by referring to the Schengen treaty as the “Moselle - treaty, they will have no idea what you are talking about!

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7. 1992 Maastricht

Although not being as famous as Amsterdam or The Hague the small Dutch city will appear on the political maps as the birth place of the European Union. Apparently it’s not so appealing as the Van Gogh museum in the Capital or the International Court of Justice in the Hague… but if heads of the States choose this city, there must be a good reason…

Officially known as the Treaty on European Union (TEU), introduced several important additions and amendments to the Treaty of Rome and signalled an advance in European integration equalled only by the 1986 Single European Act. Its central features were the incorporation of EMU into the Treaty of Rome and the establishment of the European Union by the addition of two new fields of policy co-operation: the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA). Danes rejected it. In order to solve the situation, in December the European Council adopted a declaration granting Denmark special status in relation to European co-operation, which in concrete terms gave Denmark opt-outs in four areas. Economic and monetary union (Denmark will not introduce the euro); Union citizenship (Denmark declared in 1992 that 'union citizenship is a supplement to national citizenship and not a replacement'. In 1997, amendments made to the Maastricht Treaty and embodied in the Amsterdam Treaty, stated that union citizenship will not replace national citizenship, but only supplement it. The Amsterdam Treaty thereby reflected the wording of the Danish opt-out of 1992); Common defence (Denmark will not participate in the preparation and implementation of actions with defence implications); Justice and home affairs Denmark will only participate in EU judicial cooperation at an intergovernmental level) Denmark accepted the Treaty a year later in 1993 after the second referendum with the 57% votes in favour.

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8. 1992 Petersberg

If you book one of the suites in the Petersberg hotel, you might end up using the same hairdryer as one of the distinguished WEU Ministerial representatives more than a decade ago.

The so–called Petersberg tasks were established in June 1992 at the Ministerial Council of the Western European Union (WEU) held at the Petersberg Hotel, not far from Bonn. The tasks are mentioned in the Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union and form an integral part of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). They include humanitarian, rescue, and peace-keeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. WEU pursued several of these peace-keeping, training and crisis management undertakings during the Yugoslav-crisis 1992-96 and further in Albania, Croatia and Kosovo during years 1997 to 2001.

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9. 1993 Copenhagen

Together with the one of Disney, the Mermaid in Copenhagen is the most famous in the world. The legend says that in order to get her beloved, she agreed to give to a witch her tongue in exchange for legs to replace her fish tail… Fortunately you don’t have to become mute to visit the Danish capital.

In June 1993, the Copenhagen European Council recognised the right of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to join the European Union when they have fulfilled political, economic and legal (incorporation of the Community acquis) criteria. These are fairly easy to remember, nowadays even after visiting the Christiania, which now is a pale remembrance of the area of freedom and peace it used to be in the past days of its glory. Despite the stiffening drugs- policies of Copenhagen, it still remains a tolerant and relaxed capital for both gay Danes and tourists. The first gay bar, Centralhjørnet, opened over 80 years ago, and is still going strong.

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CONTACT DETAILS

The bulletin is produced by:Young European Federalists/ Jeunes Européens Fédéralistes (JEF)

Editorial Board: Saray Espejo (JEF-Europe Secretariat) and Piia Pappinen (Bureau Member JEF Finland)

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