Library of Congress - Washington 11th February 2003

People, states or continents face, at certain times in their history,
crucial decisions. They stand at crossroads. When they rise to the
challenge, they make history. When they don't, they miss an opportunity
which may not necessarily recur.

The Philadelphia Convention, in 1787, was such a determining moment in
American history. The 13 newly independent founding states of the United
States of America were economically weak, internally divided, only 4
million strong, and still exposed to external threats. The success of
their Convention was by no means guaranteed. Could they have foreseen
that the United States they created would come to play a major role -
let alone the dominant role - in world affairs? Could they have foreseen
that their personal triumph would still evoke admiration across the
world, that "Founding Brothers" or David Maculloch's great biography of
Adams would still today fascinate scholars and statesmen alike, and not
only in America?

Today, the European Union is also at a major crossroads in its history.
It has already made tremendous strides. Western Europe has enjoyed an
unprecedented half-century of peace and relative prosperity. These
results have been achieved by an extraordinary innovative event, which
was the Franco-German reconciliation, after three bloody wars in
seventy-five years, and Western Europe knows it owes peace and
prosperity to the bonds forged by European integration. The Single
Market is an emerging reality. The latest achievement, the introduction
of the common currency, the Euro, greeted by the international
community, let us recognize it, with widespread skepticism, is a
success. New coins and notes are, since the beginning of 2002, in the
hands of most of European citizens. And the rate of exchange, vis à vis
the dollar, after a period of weakness, is now above parity.

Nevertheless, and partly as the result of its success, the European
Union now stands at a crossroads, not wholly unlike that of Philadelphia
1787.

It faces a triple challenge: i) First, the Union is about to complete
the most important enlargement of its history. Ten new member States
from Central and Eastern Europe will have joined the European Union by
the spring of 2004. At last - after decades of confrontation and war,
after the fall of the Berlin wall, after the implosion of the Soviet
Union, after the explosion of democratic freedom in the former Warsaw
Pact, Europe has, for the first time in history, the opportunity to
unite in peace. Unification by force of arms has often been attempted,
and always, inevitably, failed. But unification by consent, by the free
will of states and peoples, will be the basis of Europe's political and
economic future.

To read the full speech, see:
http://european-convention.eu.int/docs/speeches/7072.pdf