{"id":20519,"date":"2021-04-29T11:35:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T09:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/en\/events\/webinar-luxembourg-the-first-capital-of-a-united-europe\/"},"modified":"2021-04-29T11:35:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T09:35:03","slug":"webinar-luxembourg-the-first-capital-of-a-united-europe","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/en\/events\/webinar-luxembourg-the-first-capital-of-a-united-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Webinar: Luxembourg, the first capital of a united Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speakers<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>

Xavier Bettel<\/strong>, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Honorary President of the Fondation du M\u00e9rite europ\u00e9en\u00a0– St\u00e9phane Pallage<\/strong>, rector of the University of Luxembourg\u00a0– Sylvain Schirmann<\/strong>, honorary director of Sciences Po Strasbourg, University of Strasbourg; Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Robert Schuman House in Scy-Chazelles\u00a0– Etienne Deschamps<\/strong>, historian in the European Parliamentary Research Service\u00a0– Dieter Schlenker<\/strong>, director of the Historical Archives of the European Union, Florence, Martine Reicherts<\/strong>, president of the European Movement Luxembourg\u00a0– Charles Goerens<\/strong>, member of the European Parliament\u00a0– Elena Danescu<\/strong>, coordinator of EDIC University of Luxembourg\u00a0– Stephan Koppelberg<\/strong>, acting representative of the European Commission in Luxembourg<\/p>

Description:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), prefigured by Robert Schuman\u2019s declaration on 9 May 1950, came into existence on 18 April 1951, when the representatives of six founding states \u2013 Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands \u2013 concluded the Treaty of Paris for a 50-year period. The institutional architecture of this first European Community shaped the current balance of powers in the European Union, with the High Authority (now the European Commission), a supranational executive; the Special Council of Ministers embodying the national interest; the Common Assembly (now the European Parliament) representing citizens; and the Court of Justice, an independent body.<\/p>

In July 1952, Luxembourg City was chosen as the provisional location of the ECSC. On 10 August 1952, the High Authority moved into the building that now houses the Spuerkeess bank. Later that year, on 10 December, the ECSC Court of Justice held its formal inaugural session at the Cercle Municipal, on the Place d\u2019Armes. The judges\u2019 chambers were housed in the Villa Vauban. From 1952 to 1954, the Special Council of Ministers regularly met in the great chamber of Luxembourg City Hall. Luxembourg City therefore became one of the seats of the European Communities, alongside Strasbourg, which hosted the Common Assembly, and Brussels from 1958 onwards following the creation of the European Economic Community and Euratom. The merger of the Community executive bodies in 1965 confirmed Luxembourg\u2019s role as Europe\u2019s legal and financial headquarters. It was only in 1992 that the Edinburgh European Council enshrined Luxembourg, Brussels and Strasbourg as \u201cpermanent capitals\u201d of the European Union.\u00a0The ECSC Treaty marked the start of Luxembourg\u2019s European vocation as a founding state and leading player in the European integration process, and that of Luxembourg City as the \u201cfirst capital of a united Europe\u201d.<\/p>

In the run-up to Europe Day, looking back at the milestones in the history of the ECSC and examining Luxembourg\u2019s European destiny, the\u00a0Europe Direct Information Centre at the University of Luxembourg<\/strong>\u00a0and its partners:<\/p>