When Europe was made

Europe will be forged in crisis - Jean Monnet, 1976

Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity - Robert Schuman, 1950

Almost from the outset, Europe has been on an evolutionary path. A brief roadmap of 'nation-states to federation' was attempted at the very beginning, advancing through the creation of the Economic Community, then the Defence Community and finally the Political Community, before being swiftly abandoned after the second of these steps failed. 

Instead, Europe has developed in fits and starts, a series of steps charting a steady, sometimes random or short-termist, course of closer integration. Some of these steps have been fairly minor. Others have been real game-changers - like the Single Market or the euro. Others still have begun as nothing much but developed over time, according to the needs. 

It's not an accident that Europe is like this. It has responded to the preferences of its political leaders and the voters who put them in charge. But this waxing and waning, with an inexact beginning and an indefinite future, has made the EU hard to grasp and raised regular questions about how meaningful it really was. 

Knowing exactly when the EU began used to be a puzzle. You could get a different answer each time you asked the question. What was really defining enough for the nature of European unity and European politics to count as a foundational touchstone? You could go by a simple timeline and argue the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community should hold the title. You could point to the structural changes that accompanied the merging of the old communities and the establishment of the European Union. Or perhaps the creation of the common currency, for its tangible link to people's everyday lives.

In the 2010s, for some it seemed like this castle of sand was finally on the brink of falling apart. A succession of crises - from the global financial crisis to the eurozone debt crisis, the scarring of austerity, the panicked response to rising refugee numbers and then Brexit - amplified divisions within the Union beyond anything it had experienced up to that point. Many of these issues still remain unresolved. 

But in the opening years of the 2020s, there was a shift. Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU almost fell back into old habits when countries bickered over previous protective equipment and other medical supplies. Yet this soon gave way to a coordinated approach of joint purchases and common stockpiles. More significantly, the EU launched its major programme of common borrowing, accessing over €750bn to fund national recovery and investment plans, focused on the green and digital transitions. At the time, the decision led to a lot of discussion and praise. Some saw it as a pre-federal moment. What we know now is that it was merely the first sign of something more fundamental. 

The old uncertainty over the EU's true beginning should fall away. There should be no doubt that Europe came to life in the days following the 24th February 2022. 

Nothing has ever given meaning to Europe and to being European like the defence of Ukraine against Putin's invasion. Everything that has been known and predictable about Europe - that it struggles to engage in military affairs, that it acts slowly, that its policies were too weak, that its claims of solidarity are uncertain - has been thrown on a bonfire. 

Once the EU was known for its protracted debate on whether to rescue or punish one member which had taken on more debt than it could handle. Now it is activating unprecedented and historic policies to defend the integrity of a country which isn't even part of the Union. From weeks of debate on the exact shape of sanctions to throwing out a rolling series of economic blockades over the course of a few days, followed by supplies of anti-tank weapons, air defence systems and combat jets. Seemingly from nowhere, the EU has established itself on the international stage as a significant and credible geopolitical actor. 

Importantly, this goes deeper than the structures of the European Union. There is a popular will to provide extensive and wide-ranging support to Ukraine. Not even a candidate for EU membership, Ukraine's call for solidarity has nonetheless been answered by their fellow Europeans across the continent. In recognition of Ukrainians' heroism and through a need to respond to their commitment to a European path, Europe's citizens have taken to the streets and massively online to demand action from their governments and to celebrate Ukraine as the defenders of Europe's freedom and honour. Beyond the actions of the state, there is a societal mobilisation to support Ukraine. Whether through business, sport, music or individual actions, at all levels great and small, people are doing what they can to demonstrate an unwavering unity. Ukraine's stand as a democratic state, defending its right to be part of the European family, against the aggression of an imperialist dictatorship, has shown everyone what Europe can really be. 

Europe has been born and it was born in Ukraine.