The Schuman Declaration reflected the belief that a common market for coal and steel would assist the struggling European economies which were on their knees after the war. The steady growth in industrial production in the first twenty years since the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community strengthened the goal of creating a wider internal market, with a view to enhancing economic growth and eliminating trade barriers between European countries.

Industrial Expansion

Steel consumption in the six founding Member States almost doubled between 1952 and 1962, and continued to grow rapidly until the oil crisis of 1973.​

Lubatti blast furnace, Italy, June 1957. HAEU, BAC-004/1971 0081– Photo: Unknown
Worker at Alfa Romeo factory in Pomigliano d’Arco, Italy, circa 1966. HAEU, BEI 2155 – Photo: Dino Jarach / Progil-Bayer-Ugine, chemical factory in Pont-de-Claix (France), circa 1970. HAEU, BEI 2145 – Photo: Studio Piccardy, L. Guelfo and M. Auffray / EWAG, thermal power station in West Berlin (Germany), circa 1977. HAEU, BEI 2164 – Photo: Unknown

Treaty of Maastricht

The Treaty on European Union, which amended and renamed the Treaty of Rome, was signed in Maastricht, the Netherlands in 1992. For the first time, the name “European Union” was used in an official Treaty. ​

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Enrique Baron Crespo (ES)

President of the European Parliament 1989-1992. HAEU, INT 884

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The signing of the Maastricht Treaty, 7 February 1992. © European Communities 1992 – Source: EC – Photo: Christian Lambiotte / Fac-simile of the Maastricht Treaty
Working document of the European Commission on the Treaty of Maastricht, February 1992. HAEU, RS 79​

Euro. A single currency for Europe

Economic integration changed the life of European citizens, as the single market guarantees the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour. The introduction of the Euro, circulating since 2002 and currently adopted by 19 countries, was the most visible symbol of the fusion of markets envisioned by the Schuman Declaration. Not long after the creation of the Eurozone, the economic and financial crisis of the late 2000s put the Euro to its first major test.

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Jean-Claude Trichet (FR)

President of the European Central Bank 2003-2011.​ HAEU, INT 797

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Cartoons about the Euro in poster format. HAEU, NDG 484

Herman von Rompuy (BE)

President of the European Council 2009-2014. HAEU, INT 885​

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Poster produced by the European Commission. HAEU, NDG 203 / First page of the draft ‘Werner Report’. Fonds personnel Pierre Werner, Archives nationales de Luxembourg
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