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The history of European integration is an essential part of our history, of the former generations, but also of this and of the next ones. Twentieth century, two half centuries with opposite and contraddictory sign. The first half of the century characterized by the European hostilities, by the two World Wars, the second one affected with authoritative and totalitarian impulses. The first part of the century watches Europe spreading troubles, disorder, war all over the world. The second half of the century shows a completely opposite sign. After the war downfalls, reconciliation, peace, construction, solidariety, a shared destiny. This is the European integration process. European ideal had its own roots even before the end of the second world war: think about Itali, the federalist movements, about Altiero Spinelli and the “Ventotene Manifesto” in 1941. Those were the years of my High School, the years of the War and of the Resistence; a teacher of mines used to be fond of Benedetto Croce, we read many works by Croce, “European History of the XIX century”, written in 1932, on the eve of Hitler’s taking over in Germany, during the decade of the fascist revolution in 1922. Well, Croce was already talking about the germ of a new European nationality, and he says a beautiful quotation witch I remember by heart, for being repeating it so many times: “Like seventy years ago a Neapolitan from the ancient kingdom and a subalpine Piedmontese made themselves Italian, not denying their former ways of being, but raising and solving it in their new way of being; the same way French, German and Italian people and all the others will make themselves European, and will address their thoughts towards Europe, and their hearts will beat for Her, like before for their smaller fatherlands, not forgotten, yet better loved”. Let’s take a look at the post-war period: it starts with a very agitated scenery, still some nightmares fall on Europe, just set free from war. Let’s talk about the Cold War:1946. In March Churchill delivers his famous speech in Fulton, Missouri, in wich he says:” An iron curtain fell on Europe, our duty is to protect the several men’s houses, against two huge prey machines: War and Tyranny”. Here they begin the first associations among European countries, think about OECE, the Organization for economic co-operation among 18 countries, which repliy to the American invitation and about Marshall Plan in 1947-48. We can already see a first scheme for a joint self-defence, the Bruxelles Treaty in March 1948, within just five countries: France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, without Germany and Italy. In that moment the OEU was born, and it will have a long and interesting stoty. There’s the Aia conference, in which federalist movements gather, thinking about a European Union elections, but it will ends very soon. Tere is a European co-operation, without integration: the Council of Europe, the Convention of Human Rights in Rome in 1950. But the real way leading to integration will be different, it’ll start somewhere else. It’ll start the following year, in 1950. It’ll start from a preliminary choice, the market option, in the first after-war period there are people who think about an associated or integrated Europe, different possibilities occurr. We call them different options: the first stage presents different options but the market option tend to emerge; it seems to be the less convenient and the less binding possibility, but indeed it’ll show a big growth capacity. We’re about to arrive at the decision of 1950, the idea of creating a common market for coal and steele, the idea of reconciliating France and Germany in this way, the idea of opening to the other countries and to forerun the decision (1957) of having a own European Economic Community.
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