Europe Day

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Europe Day

In Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Europe Day is an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe. There are two separate Europe Days, taking place on the 5 May and the 9 May, established by the Council of Europe

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is the oldest international organisation working towards European integration, having been founded in 1949. It has a particular emphasis on legal standards, human rights, democracy development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation....
(CoE) and the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
(EU) respectively. For the EU, the day is also known as Schuman Day.

The Council of Europe's day reflects its own establishment in 1949, while the European Union's day celebrates the day the EU's predecessor was proposed in 1950.

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Encyclopedia

In Europe

Europe

Council of Europe

European Union

European symbols

A number of symbols of Europe has emerged throughout history. Depending on the symbol, they can apply to Europe as a whole, European unity or merely to the European Union ....
designed to foster unity among Europeans.

Background

The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949, and hence it chose that day for its celebrations when it established the holiday in 1964. In 1985, the European Communities

European Communities

The European Communities were three international organisations that were governed by the same set of Institutions of the European Union. These were the European Coal and Steel Community , the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community ....
(which later became the European Union

European Union

European symbols

A number of symbols of Europe has emerged throughout history. Depending on the symbol, they can apply to Europe as a whole, European unity or merely to the European Union ....
of the Council of Europe such as the Flag of Europe. However, the Community leaders decided to hold their Europe Day in commemoration of the Schuman Declaration

Schuman Declaration

File:Schuman Declaration.oggThe Schuman Declaration is a governmental proposal by then-Foreign Minister of France Robert Schuman to place the coal and steel industries of France and West Germany under a common High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community....
of 9 May 1950. The declaration proposed the pooling of French

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
and West German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
coal

Coal

Coal is a readily combustion black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The harder forms, such as anthracite, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure....
and steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
industries, leading to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community

European Coal and Steel Community

The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and creating the foundation for European democracy and the modern-day developments of the European Union....
, the first European Community, and hence is considered a principle founding moment. Hence, at the 1985 Milan

Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
European Council

European Council

The European Council is the highest political body of the European Union. It comprises the head of state head of government of the Union's European Union member state along with the President of the European Commission....
, 9 May was adopted as the EU's flag day

Flag Day

A flag day is a flag-related holiday?either a day designated for flying a certain flag , or a day set aside to celebrate a historical event such as a nation's adoption of its flag....
.

The European Constitution would have legally enshrined all the European symbols in the EU treaties, however the treaty failed and usage would continue only in the present de facto
De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
manner. The Constitution's replacement, the Treaty of Lisbon

Treaty of Lisbon

The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon, February 13, 1668, by the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized Portuguese independence....
, contains a declaration by sixteen members supporting the symbols. The European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the only direct election parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral Institutions of the European Union#Legislature of the Institutions of the European Union and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world....
formally recognised the May 9 holiday in October 2008.

Observance

9 May is celebrated in various forms in most member states of the European Union and surrounding countries such as Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
, although the day is generally not observed in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
due to euroscepticism

Euroscepticism

Euroscepticism has become a general term for opposition to the process of further European integration. It is not, however, a single ideology, and eurosceptics differ on both their vision of Europe and on the manner in which it is perceived to fail: thus some eurosceptics seek a different form of European Union whilst some seek the withdraw...
. Due to the political nature of the day, it sees attempts at teaching people about the European Union and speaking in support of European integration

European integration

European integration is the process of political, legal, economic integration of European states, including some states that are partly in Europe....
. The flag as another symbol plays a major role in general celebrations.

Despite a preference for 9 May, with the European Union's greater visibility, it is still observed by some Europeans due to the Council's role in defending human rights

Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
, parliamentary democracy

Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
and the rule of law

Rule of law

The rule of law is a legal concept which includes a number of interrelated principles. First, protecting the rule of law ensures that no one is above the law....
. In contrast, the Schuman declaration was merely proposing the pooling of French and German coal and steel. Furthermore, 9 May coincides with Victory Day

Victory Day

Victory Day is a common name of many different public holidays in various countries to commemorate victories in important battles or wars in the countries' history....
, the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
(celebrated on May 8 or 5 in western Europe), in the former Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
states.

External links

– Europa
Europa (web portal)

Europa , the official web portal of the European Union, is intended to improve the public?s interaction with EU institutions by quickly directing website visitors to the services or information they are seeking....

Europe Day

Background

Observance

See also

External links