This is the slightly revised translation of a speech given in German at Pulse of Europe Düsseldorf 26. März 2017

Der deutsche Text folgt weiter unten.

 

Sixty years ago yesterday the Treaty of Rome was signed. We celebrated this event at the march for Europe yesterday and we want to celebrate it again today at this Pulse of Europe event. I would like, by way of a short historical overview, to say something about the significance of this day.

The Treaty of Rome is in fact three separate treaties, and the always-accurate Germans indeed speak of die römischen Vertäge. In English, French and other languages the singular is used, as one treaty, that creating the European Economic Community very much dominates the other two. This treaty is of world-historical importance, on a level with the US Declaration of Independence.

Let us cast our eyes back to 1957. [Read more…]