The Europe of the past began with the Schuman Plan, which sowed the seeds of today’s EU, and concluded when the Cold War ended. It was an era of integration based on the heroic drive to reconcile post-war Germany and France and establish a Pax Europea , as well as the threatened expansion of the Soviet Union.
现在，欧洲的领导人和他们的选民可以在过去的欧洲和未来的欧洲之间进行选择。过去的欧洲以舒曼计划开始，它为现在的欧盟播下了种子，并在冷战结束的时候结束。这是一个建立在推进战后的德国和法国和解，建立一个和平的欧洲以及苏联扩张的威胁上的一体化时代。