Celebrating Europe

To celebrate Europe Day this year, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia have organised an online film festival called "Europe Day - big stories from small countries". The Croatian media Glas Istre reports how, as of 8 May, a number of selected films from these five EU countries will be available online, free of charge, for 48 hours. All the films included in the programme have won multiple awards at international film festivals. The point of the event is to show how exchanging ideas, skills and resources greatly benefits the art industry. Without co-production, films from small countries with low production capacity would not be able to achieve the same success. As many events held on Europe Day aim to promote European values, this event underlines the importance of cultural diversity in Europe.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, Libération travels back in time to the moment when Robert Schuman presented his plan for reconciliation between France and Germany in the framework of a united Europe, just five years after the end of the war. On 9 May 1950, the journalists that attended the press conference in Paris were expecting nothing out of the ordinary from the French Foreign Minister. The plan of creating a European Coal and Steel Community had been kept a secret, as Schuman and Jean Monnet wanted to bypass the opposition, and the announcement took the public by surprise. The project foresaw a step-by-step cooperation between countries who would have equal rights and be led by a supranational authority, while the sacrifice of giving up national sovereignty would be rewarded with communal gains. The article also mentions how the plan would not have materialised without Konrad Adenauer and concludes that the whole thing could have easily ended up in the drawer if it had not been taken up by the right people at the right moment in time.

Coinciding with Europe Day this year, the EU was planning to launch its Conference on the Future of Europe this week, that would serve as a public forum where citizens could express their concerns and priorities for the future of Europe and where leaders would listen. As the Wiener Zeitung reports, the Conference is now officially postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The article notes how, 70 years after the European Coal and Steel Community was created, much has changed in Europe and that it is high time to reconsider the future of the EU. While the Conference is meant to tackle internal innovations and set the course for the future, the European Parliament has already called for a number of concrete reforms, including the right of initiative and cross-border electoral lists. It remains unclear when the Conference will be able to start. 

RTL reports that in Luxembourg, municipalities which border Germany have flown EU flags at half-mast in front of their town halls in order to protest against Germany's decision to keep the border closed until 15 May. Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn had hoped that Germany would not extend the closure in order to revive the Schengen Agreement which has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. He states that the Schengen Agreement is “one of the greatest achievements of the European integration process”. Across from the European Museum there is a bridge that is the dividing line between the two countries, and German police question drivers one by one. The article points out how Luxembourg is not only celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Schuman declaration this year but also 25 years of the Schengen area and the 35th anniversary of the initial agreement of free movement between the six founding members.