The Cultural Committee
The Cultural Committee
The work of the Cultural Committee
Letter from Joseph Retinger to Denis de Rougemont (29 March 1948)
TextOn 29 March 1948, Joseph Retinger, Secretary-General of the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity, sends to Denis de Rougemont, who has been appointed rapporteur for the Cultural Committee at the forthcoming Congress of Europe, a letter in which he defines the nature and scope of the preamble to the Hague Declarations. This will become known as the ‘Message to Europeans’.
Lecture given by Denis de Rougemont on the cultural implications of European unity (Paris, 22 April 1948)
TextOn 22 April 1948, Denis de Rougemont gives a lecture at the Sorbonne on the cultural implications of European unity. He refers, in particular, to the opposition between the unionist and federalist tendencies within the pro-European activist movement.
Denis de Rougemont
PassStatement made by Stefan Glaser at the Congress of Europe (The Hague, 8 May 1948)
TextOn 8 May 1948, during a meeting of the Cultural Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague, Stefan Glaser, Professor of International Law at the University of Liège, calls for the establishment by stages of an international university.
Statement made by Étienne Gilson at the Congress of Europe (The Hague, 8 May 1948)
TextOn 8 May 1948, during a meeting of the Cultural Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague, Étienne Gilson, Professor at the Collège de France and member of the Académie Française, emphasises the universal nature of European culture and the need to set up, in the context of the Brussels Treaty, a European Committee entrusted with the task of examining the conditions for the establishment of a European Centre for Culture.
Statement made by Raymond Silva at the Congress of Europe (The Hague, 8 May 1948)
TextOn 8 May 1948, during a meeting of the Cultural Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague, Raymond Silva, French member of the Central Committee of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), emphasises the need to establish a European Centre for Culture that is entirely independent of national governments.
Address given by Alexandre Marc at the Congress of Europe (The Hague, 8 May 1948)
TextOn 8 May 1948, Alexandre Marc, French Director of the Institutional Department of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), outlines to Members of the Cultural Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague the principles underlying his proposal for a Declaration of Rights and for a Supreme Court as part of a future European Federation.
Cultural Resolution of the Hague Congress (7–10 May 1948)
TextAt the end of the Congress of Europe held in The Hague in May 1948, the participants adopt a Cultural Resolution which recommends, in particular, the establishment of a European Cultural Centre.
Comments by Denis de Rougemont on the identity of Europe (June 1948)
TextIn June 1948, Denis de Rougemont, rapporteur one month earlier for the Cultural Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague, outlines what, in his view, determines the particular nature of Europe's cultural and personalist identity.
Reactions
‘The importance of the Europe concept’ from the Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant (7 May 1948)
TextOn 7 May 1948, the Dutch liberal daily newspaper Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant examines the cultural aspects of European unity that will be addressed at the Congress of Europe in The Hague.
‘Preparations for a European Cultural Centre’ from the Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant (10 May 1948)
TextOn 10 May 1948, the Dutch liberal daily newspaper Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant describes the scope of the resolution adopted by the Cultural Committee at the Congress of Europe in The Hague and places particular emphasis on the establishment of a European Cultural Centre.