1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,280 By the time the Second World War ended in 1945, Europe was in ruins. 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:11,320 The daunting task of rebuilding and planning a better future began. 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:17,120 The 1950s brought a spirit of new beginnings and Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,760 gave a speech outlining a vision of France, West Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries 5 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:28,840 sharing strategic resources in order to build a lasting peace in Europe. 6 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:34,160 One year later, at the Treaty of Paris, the European Coal and Steel Community was founded. 7 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:40,280 A common steel and coal market, with freely set market prices and without import or export 8 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:41,560 duties. 9 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,800 The first manifestation of the European Community was born. 10 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:51,440 The need for an external representation for the newly formed European Community was apparent 11 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,200 right from the start. 12 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,400 When Jean Monnet set up a transatlantic office in 1954, the first foundation stone of the 13 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,520 external relations of the European Community was laid. 14 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,640 Europe's first steps to be present in the wider world coincided with the dismantling 15 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:13,800 of European empires, beginning in 1957 with the independence of Ghana. 16 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:18,160 The Treaty of Rome that year recognised the relationship of the founding six members to 17 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,520 their overseas territories, mainly in Africa. 18 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,200 A five-year development fund was set up. 19 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,200 This fund was used for capital aid programmes to develop infrastructure, like roads, hospitals 20 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,280 and schools. 21 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,920 Contract teams administering the funds were typically drawn from European engineering 22 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,520 consultancies resident in the countries. 23 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:44,720 But the old colonial empires were changing, both for the European colonial powers and 24 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:48,940 the newly independent nations. 25 00:01:48,940 --> 00:01:53,640 The Commission's contract teams soon found themselves dealing with new issues, especially 26 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:58,880 in Africa, where newly independent countries sought to establish diplomatic relations with 27 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:00,800 Europe. 28 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:07,000 During the 1960s, a new relationship was formalised under the Yande Conventions, and a post-colonial 29 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:12,800 development agreement was established, the European Development Fund. 30 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:18,960 The contract teams were replaced by a new agency, the European Agency for Cooperation. 31 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:24,600 From 1965 onwards, 21 offices were established in the associated countries. 32 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,320 These offices were charged with implementing the grant aid of the new fund, dealing mainly 33 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,880 with internal development issues. 34 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:37,360 In Europe, the effects of the Cold War intensified with the building of what was to become the 35 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:43,080 iconic symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall. 36 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,920 While in Western Europe, walls were coming down. 37 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:51,400 In 1968, the Customs Union was completed and goods now passed freely and unchecked 38 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:56,120 across the borders of the member states. 39 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:01,720 In the mid-1970s, the first Lomé Convention was signed between Europe and 46 founding 40 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,200 African, Caribbean and Pacific states. 41 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:10,160 Lomé was a modern international partnership convention, replacing the old post-colonial 42 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:11,160 model. 43 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,000 Lomé redefined the relationship between Europe and developing countries. 44 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,800 It addressed more than just development cooperation. 45 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,760 Now trade, regional integration, political issues and cultural cooperation were on the 46 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:25,920 agenda. 47 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:30,600 European delegation offices were charged specifically with the responsibility of implementing the 48 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:37,520 Lomé Convention, and the number of these delegations doubled. 49 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:43,640 The European community continued to grow with the accession of Ireland, the UK and Denmark. 50 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:48,720 The mid-1970s also saw the signing of community protocols with eight southern and eastern 51 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,040 Mediterranean countries. 52 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,920 The relationship and attention given to Latin America was strengthened when Spain and Portugal 53 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:57,640 joined. 54 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,240 Stronger ties were also developed in Asia. 55 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,720 Europe became more professional in its dealings with the rest of the world. 56 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:09,600 An international European personality was steadily being created to deal with the changing 57 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:10,600 world. 58 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,760 By 1980, there were 50 delegation offices around the world. 59 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,800 Delegations opened at the rate of five a year, as Europe took an increasing role in world 60 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:20,280 affairs. 61 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:25,320 The need for a common foreign policy became more pressing, and a common foreign and security 62 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:31,640 policy was eventually formalised in 1992 by the Maastricht Treaty. 63 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:36,420 The end of the Cold War forced further changes to foreign policy. 64 00:04:36,420 --> 00:04:40,480 In light of the problems faced by Europe in reacting to the conflicts that erupted after 65 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:46,680 the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, particularly in the former Yugoslavia, the EU created a 66 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,840 European security and defence policy. 67 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:55,280 A rethink of the external service led to a major overhaul in 1998, when the Amsterdam 68 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:58,840 Treaty established the position of High Representative. 69 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:04,360 We have to move towards a more active and less declaratory foreign policy. 70 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:09,120 Our words have to be matched by deeds. 71 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:14,400 Europe began to intensify its efforts to play an international political and security role, 72 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,680 more in line with its economic status. 73 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,720 Military or police forces were now sent to areas of crisis to carry out humanitarian 74 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:28,960 operations, peacekeeping, crisis management and even peacemaking. 75 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:34,640 Military action could also be carried out by an EU Rapid Reaction Force. 76 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:39,960 The fall of the communist regimes also demanded a response, and the EU set up programmes to 77 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:45,160 help the transition to democratic, market-orientated economies. 78 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:49,960 The implementation of these programmes coincided with the establishment of new delegation offices 79 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,960 across Central and Eastern Europe. 80 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,280 Europe also looked to its southern and Middle Eastern neighbours. 81 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:04,080 In 1995, the 15 member states of the EU came together with 12 governments from the region. 82 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:09,320 The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership promoted democracy, human rights and cooperation among 83 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,720 the partners. 84 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:18,160 Now in 2007, the EU has expanded to 27 member states, effectively pushing the European border 85 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,600 further east to a new set of neighbours. 86 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:26,000 The European Neighbourhood Policy emerged to help the EU's neighbours benefit from the 87 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,480 possibilities offered by an enlarged EU, and to support their own reforms. 88 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:37,040 Today, the EU is the world's largest donor of development assistance, accounting for 89 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,420 more than half of the world's official aid. 90 00:06:40,420 --> 00:06:47,420 The external service has 130 delegations and 5,000 members of staff, presenting, explaining 91 00:06:47,900 --> 00:06:51,140 and implementing the EU's external policy. 92 00:06:51,140 --> 00:06:57,580 Today, Europe has a global reach, facilitating trade and development, supporting human rights 93 00:06:57,580 --> 00:07:01,700 and free elections in order to promote democratic values. 94 00:07:01,700 --> 00:07:08,700 We have to work with all our partners in order to make issues go forward and thus bring the 95 00:07:10,380 --> 00:07:12,700 international community together. 96 00:07:12,820 --> 00:07:19,260 The more we can do, the more effective we will be. This is what we call effective multilateralism. 97 00:07:19,260 --> 00:07:24,260 For 50 years, the European dream has ensured peace on the continent. In a world of global 98 00:07:24,260 --> 00:07:29,520 threats and challenges, the Europe of the 21st century will continue to tackle the current 99 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:35,140 concerns of its citizens, such as the economy, quality of life and security. 100 00:07:35,140 --> 00:07:40,500 It will also become a stronger global player committed to multilateralism. Using its foreign 101 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:47,500 policy tools of aid, trade and economic agreements to promote human rights, democracy, freedom 102 00:07:47,660 --> 00:07:49,380 and justice throughout the world.