Europe Day: 70 years of solidarity

"World peace cannot be safeguarded without making creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it" (Robert Schuman, 1950).

The words of Robert Schuman hold especially true 70 years on when the world is seeking to overcome the devastation of COVID-19, the ongoing risk to the environment and growing economic and social divisions. The Schuman Declaration paved the way for signing the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and the birth of what was to become the European Union, just one decade after the ravages of World War II.

Today, we celebrate the vision of the European Union’s forebearers and the commitment and work of all those within Europe and beyond to its goals of social inclusion and economic growth to ensure peace, stability and prosperity for all.

The European Union’s actions and influence, including external assistance policies and programmes, have grown to touch on many areas of citizens lives within and outside the EU. More and more policy areas are best served by a common response as the challenges and opportunities facing economies, societies and citizens are increasingly global: economic and financial globalisation, technological change, global warming, income disparities, migration. The global pandemic we now face knows no borders. We see the European Union taking the lead in the Coronavirus Global Response

Education and training, employment, and social inclusion are transversal issues in the European Union’s external development and international assistance agenda. This is the nexus where the ETF operates supporting our partner countries in South Eastern Europe and Turkey, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We are cooperating at all levels, with stakeholders at local and national levels and engaging with bilateral and international donors for the development of skills within a lifelong learning perspective supporting the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the ETF is actively supporting its partner countries, mapping how they are responding to the challenges of social distancing and undertaking thematic studies on emerging challenges to better inform ETF and EU interventions. We are reaching out and sharing their experiences with those of EU member states and African countries through our #learningconnects campaign and live interviews. We are joining hearts and minds in all our activities in the spirit of Robert Schuman.

Today is a special day for everyone believing in Robert Schuman's vision and working to fulfil its goals to transform the opportunities for citizens and create a better future for all.

Happy Europe Day