General presentation

This project was developed in connection with the 60th anniversary of the signing, on 18 April 1951, of the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the first common market.

The CVCE and its partners are planning to hold a seminar in December 2011 for young students from three of the founding countries (France, Germany and Luxembourg) to examine the legacy of the ECSC, 60 years on.

In practice, the seminar involved explaining to the students how the ECSC bodies have served as the basis for our current European institutions, thereby helping improve their understanding of these institutions. The event was also used to present the Treaty of Paris and to analyse the implications this treaty had at the time, in a way that is accessible to the students. A further aim of the event is to raise awareness of Europe in general, explaining the mechanism by which its institutions are established and contributing to the development of active European citizenship.

One of the educational objectives of the event is also to highlight Luxembourg's role as European capital, seat of the institutions set up by the Treaty of Paris (the High Authority, the Special Council of Ministers and the Court of Justice).

In short, the CVCE, project coordinator, hopes to create a group dynamic through the organisation of a seminar, and to make further use of the various contributions presented at the seminar by publishing a booklet on the Treaty of Paris.

This project, funded by the European Commission in connection with the European ‘Youth in action' programme, will also stimulate the establishment of closer relations between young people from three of the founding countries, neighbours and signatories to the 1951 treaty.

It will contribute to the development of the CVCE's activities and its missions to promote active European citizenship.