9 May marks Europe Day, held to celebrate peace and unity in Europe. The date is a commemoration of the first move towards the creation of what has today become the European Union. In 1950, Robert Schuman, the then French foreign minister, gave a speech in Paris, in which he presented his idea for a new model of political cooperation among European countries, which would make war between European nations become out of the question. Schuman’s vision was to create a European institution that would pool and manage coal and steel production. A treaty creating such a body was signed almost a year later.
To celebrate Europe Day, the EU institutions traditionally open their doors to the public in the beginning of May. Local EU offices in Europe and all over the world organise a great number of activities and events for all age groups. Each year thousands of people participate in visits, debates, concerts and other activities to mark the day and raise awareness about the EU. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU is inviting citizens from across Europe and the world to discover it in a safe and mostly virtual way, with several physical or hybrid events and visits taking place where sanitary conditions allow it. Europe Day is officially a public holiday for employees of European Union institutions. In 2019, 9 May became a public holiday in Luxembourg.
Moreover, this year the Conference on the Future of Europe will be launched on 9 May at an inaugural event in Strasbourg. In this way, an open and inclusive participatory democratic debate about Europe’s future will begin and continue for a year till spring 2022.
We encourage you to follow the Conference’s events and find more information about it at: https://futureu.europa.eu/?locale=en
There is no better way to celebrate Europe Day than practising your interpreting skills with the Speech Repository. You will find a great number of speeches on various interesting topics to choose from. Let’s celebrate Europe Day together by making use of one of the many tools that the EU offers to its citizens!
Happy practice,
Your Speech Repository Team