Today, 9 May, we celebrate Europe Day, which every year marks the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. On this day in 1950, Robert Schuman, then French foreign minister, during a speech in Paris, proposed the creation of a European Coal And Steel Community, a new form of economic and political cooperation among several countries in Europe.

In 1950, the nations of Europe were struggling to overcome the devastation of the Second World War, but determined to prevent another such terrible conflict. His idea set out a new form of institution, with the participation of France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg as founding members.

If former rival nations could pool the production of coal and steel, then the two most important elements of economic development, this would – in the words of the Declaration – make war between historic rivals France and Germany "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible". Schuman's proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union.

"World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it” Schuman said. “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity."

Now, 70 years later, the European Union is the second-largest economy in the world, an essential partner for China and the most successful model of regional integration in the world, bringing long-term peace and prosperity to the European continent.