On May 7, 1948, 740 people gathered in The Hague at the call of the International Committee of the Movements for European Unity. The stated aim was to build "the United States of Europe." Various proposals along these lines had been made for several years. During their captivity in Mussolini's jails in 1941, anti-fascist and federalist activists Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi had drafted the "Ventotene Manifesto," in which they called for the creation of a free and united federal Europe at the end of the war. Like William Beveridge's 1942 report, which outlined the future "Welfare State," this manifesto opened up radically new perspectives for the post-war era. In 1944, the Declaration of the European Resistance Movements called for the creation of a federal union of peoples.

Two elements are common to all these reflections. First, there is the idea that it was necessary to break with the existence of nation-states, seen as the root cause of war. The "Ventotene Manifesto" makes this clear: "The absolute sovereignty of national states has given each the desire to dominate, since each one feels threatened by the strength of the others, and considers as its living space an increasingly vast territory." The first objective is therefore "the abolition of the division of Europe into national, sovereign states."

Secondly, there is the conviction that a federal Europe must be democratic: The "Ventotene Manifesto" advocates the establishment of a government accountable to the peoples of the federation's member states; the creation of an army placed under the orders of this federal government; and the establishment of a supreme court, competent to settle questions relating to the interpretation of the federal Constitution and disputes between member states.

Sabotaging political union

The Hague Congress was expected to produce a final resolution after three reports had been debated in three committees. The first report proposed a coordination of economic policies, removal of trade barriers, and labor mobility. The second called for the creation of a European parliamentary assembly and the construction of a united Europe open to Germany. The third proposed the adoption of a Charter of Fundamental Rights and a supreme court. These latter proposals from the cultural committee were quickly implemented: The Council of Europe was created on May 5, 1949; the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in November 1950; and the court charged with enforcing these provisions shortly therefore.

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