Who was Robert Schuman?

By Graham Avery (RSCAS Visiting Fellow, 2010)

 

Robert Schuman (1886-1963) was a French statesman and one of the founding fathers  of the European Communities.

Born in Luxembourg of a German father, he became a lawyer in Metz. As a result of the transfer of Lorraine from Germany to France in 1918, Schuman became a French citizen, and was elected to the French Parliament. Throughout his political career he was a militant social Catholic, and belonged to parties of the Christian Democrat family.

From 1946 to 1955 he was a member of French governments, as Finance Minister, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Justice Minister. Later he was the first President of the European Parliament , and President of the European Movement .

In a declaration on 9 May 1950 as Foreign Minister he launched the Schuman Plan  proposing a supranational Community for coal and steel, based on a new European legal order. It led to the creation in 1951 of the European Coal and Steel Community , which was the precursor of the European Economic Community  in 1956 and the European Union  in 1993.

An internationalist by experience and conviction, Schuman was a visionary and a realist. His speeches and writings have had a lasting influence on European integration.

For example, he said:

« L’Europe ne se fera pas d’un coup, ni dans une construction d’ensemble: elle se fera par des réalisations concrètes, créant d’abord une solidarité de fait »

“Europe will not be made at one go, nor in an overall construction: it will be made through concrete achievements that create real solidarity”

 

‘Europe Day'  celebrated on 9 May commemorates Schuman’s 1950 declaration.