To mark the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in the second half of 2015, the CVCE has compiled a selection of resources and oral accounts, including an interactive timeline on Luxembourg’s role in the European integration process.

Interactive timeline

Luxembourg in the European integration process

Resources

Audiovisuel material

Interview excerpts

Widget

Interactive timeline on Luxembourg in the European integration process

Our interactive timeline shows the main events related to Luxembourg in the European integration process. Click on the image below to open the timeline. If you’re interested in creating a link to the timeline on your website, please contact us!

 

 

Luxembourg in the European integration process

After the Second World War, Luxembourg abandoned its policy of neutrality and began to pursue a new policy of international economic and military cooperation (the OEEC and the Treaty of Brussels in 1948, NATO in 1949). As early as September 1944, the governments-in-exile of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands had already signed a customs convention in London establishing the Benelux Customs Union.

Luxembourg was also involved in the early plans for European integration. On 5 May 1949, the country signed the Statute of the Council of Europe, an organisation for political cooperation whose Member States undertook to uphold the principles of democracy and respect for human rights. Then on 9 May 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, who was born in Luxembourg, proposed that the coal and steel resources of France and Germany be pooled within an organisation that would be open to other European countries. The establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) constituted the real launch of the European integration process. For the first time, sovereign states were prepared to transfer some of their powers and responsibilities to a supranational organisation. On 18 April 1951, Luxembourg, together with Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the Federal Republic of Germany, signed the Treaty establishing the ECSC and confirmed its commitment to the European integration process. The treaty came into force on 23 July 1952.

During the night of 24 to 25 July 1952, after lengthy diplomatic negotiations held in Paris on the location of the seat of the ECSC, Joseph Bech proposed Luxembourg City as the new organisation’s provisional place of work. The capital of the Grand Duchy therefore became the provisional seat of the High Authority, the Consultative Committee and the Court of Justice of the ECSC. The Special Council of Ministers also held its meetings in Luxembourg City. And although the sessions of the Assembly were held in Strasbourg, the fledgling parliamentary administration was also based in Luxembourg.

Following the failure of the European Defence Community (EDC) and the abandonment of plans for a European Political Community (EPC) in 1954, the Community went through a serious crisis. To revive the European integration process, the Six agreed to set up a Common Market, taking inspiration from the Benelux Memorandum of May 1955. On 25 March 1957, the Rome Treaties establishing a European Economic Community (EEC) and a European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) were signed.

But the question of the seat of the European institutions was far from being settled. In 1965, the signing of the Treaty merging the executive bodies of the three Communities — the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom — led to most of the departments of the Council and the Commission being grouped together in Brussels. Luxembourg was no longer the seat of the ECSC High Authority, but by way of compensation it was decided that the European legal and financial institutions would be located in Luxembourg City. The question of the seat of the institutions continued to spark lively political discussions on many occasions.

The following European institutions are currently based in Luxembourg City: the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance, the European Court of Auditors and the European Investment Bank. The Secretariat of the European Parliament and its departments, as well as several Commission departments, are also located in Luxembourg City. During the months of April, June and October, the Council holds its meetings in the city. In late 2012, Luxembourg was chosen as the seat of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), an intergovernmental organisation dependent on the European Union.

Throughout the European integration process, many decisive political steps in the development of Europe have taken place in Luxembourg. In 1966, the ‘Luxembourg Compromise’ brought an end to the empty chair crisis. Four years later, the ‘Werner Plan’, drawn up by a group of experts chaired by Pierre Werner, was the first step towards Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe. In 1985, the Benelux countries, France and Germany signed the Schengen Agreement (named after the village in Luxembourg where the borders of Luxembourg, France and Germany meet), which provided for the gradual abolition of controls at their common borders.

Luxembourg is also the country that has provided the most leaders for the European institutions in proportion to its size. Three of the twelve Presidents of the European Commission have hailed from Luxembourg (Gaston Thorn from 1981 to 1985, Jacques Santer from 1995 to 1999 and Jean-Claude Juncker since November 2014). For eight years, Jean-Claude Juncker also served as the first permanent President of the Eurogroup (2005–2013).

Since the early days of European integration, Luxembourg has successfully sought to play its full and proper role as a member of a Community that is constantly changing, whilst firmly retaining its own national identity. The country has held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union eleven times. Three European Councils held under Luxembourg Presidency merit particular attention: in December 1985, the Heads of State or Government of the Ten reached an agreement in principle on a reform of the Community institutions that paved the way for the adoption of the Single European Act in February 1986; in June 1991, the draft Treaty on Union drawn up by the Luxembourg Presidency served as the basis for negotiations which resulted in the Treaty of Maastricht; and in December 1997, the Heads of State or Government reached agreement on the enlargement of the European Union to include the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

From 1 July to 31 December 2015, as it holds the Presidency of the 28-member EU, Luxembourg finds itself once again the focus of European and international attention.

Resources

TracŽ 24 TracŽ 23 TracŽ 22 TracŽ 21 TracŽ 20 TracŽ 19 TracŽ 18 TracŽ 17 TracŽ 16 TracŽ 15 TracŽ 14 TracŽ 13 TracŽ 12 TracŽ 11 TracŽ 10 TracŽ 9 TracŽ 8 TracŽ 7 TracŽ 6 TracŽ 5 TracŽ 4 TracŽ 3 TracŽ 2 TracŽ 1

 

Widget on Luxembourg and the European integration process

The CVCE has created a widget that displays a series of documents on Luxembourg’s role in the European integration process, which is available for you to incorporate into your website. Please contact us for the widget code.