On 8 May 1950, in his official reply to Robert Schuman’s letter which he received the previous day, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, informs Mr Schuman of his interest in the plan to pool European coal and steel.

Replying personally to Robert Schuman’s letter dated 7 May 1950, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, expresses his confidence in the French Foreign Minister’s plan for the future of Franco–German relations.

On 9 May 1950, the declaration made in the salon de l’Horloge at the French Foreign Ministry by the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, marks the decisive starting point for European integration.

On 9 May 1948, on the margins of Congress of Europe in The Hague, the delegates take part in a major European rally attended by a crowd of some 40 000 people on Dam Square, Amsterdam. The photo shows, in particular (from left to right): Salvador de Madariaga, Winston Churchill, Pieter Kerstens, Paul Reynaud, Anthony Eden, Paul Ramadier and Henri Brugmans.

On 19 September 1946, Winston Churchill, British Conservative leader, gives an address at the University of Zurich in which he identifies Franco-German reconciliation and the establishment of a European organisation as conditions for peace and liberty throughout the continent.

On 22 February 1956, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel comments on the various positions taken on the proposed European Atomic Community at the Brussels Conference between the six Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and emphasises Jean Monnet’s actions on the eve of the meeting.

Transcription of the interview with Giuliano Amato, President of the Italian Council from 1992 to 1993 and 2000 to 2001 and Interior Minister from 2006 to 2008, carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 15 October 2012 in Rome. The interview was conducted by Renaud Dehousse, Professor and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Union Law and Political Science at Sciences Po Paris and Director of the European Studies Centre, and particularly focuses on the following aspects of Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa’s life: his role as a great public servant, his work at the Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance (2006–2008) and the importance he placed on networking.

Transcription of the interview with Alfonso Iozzo, senior executive in the Sanpaolo banking group from 1961 to 2006, Chairman of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in Rome from 2006 to 2008, member of the European Federalist Movement since 1963 and Vice-Chairman of the Triffin International Foundation, carried out by the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) on 16 October 2012 in Rome. The interview was conducted by Renaud Dehousse, Professor and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Union Law and Political Science at Sciences Po Paris and Director of the European Studies Centre, and particularly focuses on the following aspects of Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa’s life: his activities at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (1979–1983), his influence in the Italian delegation that took part in the negotiations on Economic and Monetary Union and his work as Minister for the Economy and Finance (2006–2008).