Eurogroup - Eurozone

05/09/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/09/2025 07:17

Press statement by President António Costa following the Europe day Celebration - 75th Anniversary of the Schuman Declaration in Luxembourg

I would like to thank Prime Minister Luc Frieden for hosting us today in Luxembourg, in the heart of Europe.

Yesterday, we commemorated eighty years after the end of the Second World War, Europe's darkest hour. Today, we celebrate Robert Schuman's vision for the rebirth of Europe from the ashes of war.

But this vision was not just about reconstruction - it was a roadmap for peace, a lasting peace and shared prosperity: it laid the groundwork for the European Union we have today. Schuman made it clear: peace and European integration go hand in hand. Not a mere ceasefire. Not a cold peace. But real and lasting and comprehensive peace.

Today, that vision faces its greatest test in a generation, as war has returned to our continent in the form of Russia's brutal aggression against Ukraine. That is why Europe must continue to support Ukraine. Until Ukraine achieves a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, the way we built it in the past 75 years.

But the ambition of the Schuman Declaration went beyond Europe's borders - its first sentence is clear: "World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it."

Today's European Union must continue to make those creative efforts:

  • in strengthening the Europe of Defence, because peace without defence is an illusion;
  • in expanding and deepening its network of global partnerships, including through an ambitious trade policy;
  • in accelerating enlargement, because enlargement is the best geopolitical investment that we can make;
  • and in fulfilling this fundamental promise to European citizens: to provide prosperity and social progress and solidarity.

So, today's historical commemoration must be a call for action. And let's resist the temptation for pessimism, just like the Founding Fathers of Europe did when the continent was in ruins. Because, moving forward, we have good reasons to be confident:

  • The European Union is a space of vibrant and lively democracies, where citizens can enjoy individual freedoms without the fear of repression.
  • The European Union is an economic powerhouse, with the world's highest social and environmental standards; a continent of science, innovation and academic freedom.
  • The European Union is an anchor of reliability and predictability in a world of rapid and sometimes chaotic change.

Can Europe do better? Of course it can. We can always do better. And of course it will.

Because, when Europeans choose unity, when they choose to work as Team Europe - as the last 75 years have demonstrated, anything is possible.

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