Posted on 06 August 2013
Zbigniew B. Rudnicki, Professor at the Institute of International Law, European Union and International Relations at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw has recently conducted a research on the history of the educational and cultural programmes of the European Movement with the financial support of the Sorensen Grant Programme, a research grant financing a one-month research stay at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence.
Prof Rudnicki’s research is focusing on the European Movement’s early culture and education programmes, which had an important role as lever during the early years of European construction. The various activities of the European Movement in those days provided an intellectual basis and a set of solutions for the workings of European elites and government leaders in the establishment of the European Communities.
“The European Movement was more than a political campaign or an economic doctrine set into motion. Its roots lie in a sense of common European culture and civilization,” says Prof. Rudnicki.
The archives of the European Movement were deposited at the HAEU by agreement with the College of Bruges in 1990. The holdings comprise the meeting minutes of the Executive Council and Bureau, correspondence between the International Secretariat and the National Councils, Members and associate members. The fonds also comprises correspondence, minutes and resolutions of the Congress in The Hague, Brussels, Lausanne, Rome, etc. Finally the deposit also comprises activity reports and documentation on events, in particular on the European Youth Campaign.
“Through the archives we can see how many ideas and projects, developed and discussed in the first post-war years by the European Movement, were implemented at a later stage. These strategies and concepts developed by the movement can be used as a source of inspiration for the current discussions on the future of the united Europe,” says Prof. Rudnicki.
With its rich collections of archival deposits of pro-European organisations, comprising the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CCRE), the European Federalist Movement (MFE), the International Centre for European Educational Training (CIFE), the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and many others, the Historical Archives of the European Union is a unique research centre on the histories of those movements that either inspired or backed European integration and cooperation.
The origins of the European Movement date back to 1947 starting as platform for coordination of pro-European organisations and preparing the Congress at The Hague in May 1948. The European Movement was formally created on 25 October 1948 and achieved the creation of the Council of Europe in 1949, the College of Bruges and the European Centre for Culture in Geneva. Its further workings comprise the promotion of direct elections of the European Parliament and the introduction of a European Constitution with the aim of a Federal European Union.