European Movement Congress of The Hague

Date of Founding

1948

Date of Abolition

1948

Location

Beyond the circles of government, the cause for European integration was enthusiastically pushed by different transnational European Movements with the joint organization of the Congress of Europe.

With over 800 participants, this Congress had been the kick-off of a public debate about the future of Europe.

The International Committee of the Movements for European Unity (ICMEU), chaired by Winston Churchill’s son-in-law Duncan Sandys and headed by Secretary-General Jospeh Retinger, consisted of organizations with different political colours:
• the Union of European Federalists (UEF), led by the Dutch federalist, Henri Brugmans;
• the unionist United Europe Movement, founded by Winston Churchill
• the liberal Independent/European League for European Cooperation (ILEC/ELEC), founded by the former Belgian Prime Minister, Paul van Zeeland;
• the French Council for a United Europe, founded by René Courtin;
• the European Parliamentary Union (EPU), founded by Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi;
• the Christian democratic Nouvelles Équipes Internationales, founded by the French Popular Republican, Robert Bichet.
• The Socialist Movement or the United States of Europe (MSEUE) joined after the Congress of Europe

The Congress of Europe then serves as a proxy for the wide variety of transnational European movements.

In its concluding political, economic and cultural resolutions, the attending members of the Congress expressed the wish for a transnational political assembly to continue this debate.