© Copyright 2010. French Moments
STRASBOURG, capital of Europe
“Here is a city that, more than others, was a victim of the stupidity of European nations who believed in fixing their problems with war, now it must be called upon to become a symbol of reconciliation and peace.”
Ernest Bevin, United Kingdom’s Foreign Affairs Minister, 1949.
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The Council of Europe has its headquarters at the Palace of Europe, which was built in 1975 by Henri Bernard. It is an imposing quadrilateral made of pink sandstone, glass and metal. In front of its floating square are the flags of its 47 member States.
It is the oldest of the great European institutions established in Strasbourg after 1945, and held its first meeting in 1949 at the University Palace. It is not part of the European Union and is often confused with another institution - the European Council - which is part of the European Union.
It is a pan-European organisation, uniting 800 million citizens and 47 member States including France, Russia, Turkey, Switzerland and Norway.
Its two official languages are English and French.
In order to strengthen cohesion between peoples, the Council of Europe has created two official emblems (which have also been adopted by the European Union):
The Council of Europe
The European Union [EU] is a political and economic union of 27 member-states in Europe and stretches from the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta to the Arctic Pole in Sweden and Finland. However, even though the EU has been through a series of extensive enlargements over the last 50 years, the Union does not include the whole continent of Europe, as some countries are still found outside the EU’s borders: Switzerland, Norway, European Russia, and Iceland. Its area represents just over half of that of Australia.
The European Union
Railway station
‘Azure blue with a crown of twelve gold stars in its centre’
Adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly in 1955, it allows all Europeans to identify with it in addition to their own national flag. The flag was adopted by the European Union in 1983.
The number of stars is permanently fixed at 12 and does not represent the number of member States of the EU. The number symbolises perfection and plenitude, in the same way as the 12 months of the year or the 12 apostles. Legend attributes the creation of the flag to a statue of the Virgin crowned with 12 stars, with the founding fathers of Europe in the 1950s being sensitive to religious values. It is interesting to note that the Council of Europe had offered the Cathedral of Strasbourg a stained glass window representing Virgin Mary to replace the one that was destroyed by the Allied bombings.
One of the most powerful institutions in the European Union, the European Parliament represents the interests of some 500 million European citizens.
Prior to the inauguration of the new building in 1999, the European Members of Parliament had their headquarters in the Chamber of the Palace of the Council of Europe, on the other side of the river. With the European Union expanding regularly, it was necessary to find a more spacious location for the European MPs and to respond to parliamentary demands (interpreting cabins, technologies associated with voting, offices, etc).
The Human Rights Palace is a futuristic building by architect Richard Rogers and was inaugurated in 1998. It stands parallel to the right bank of the Ill River, at the point of its convergence with the Marne-Rhine Canal.
Its architect wanted the Palace to be considered as a symbol, and not simply a monument. The nature of the business conducted here implies that it must be anything but intimidating; it must be welcoming and human. The building’s façade must reinforce the sense of justice by symbolising “the balance of justice”. For the architect, the Palace adopts “resolutely contemporary and symbolic lines which associate law to the principle of transparency”.
The official name of the supranational institution housed within the Palace is the “European Court of Human Rights” – not to be confused with the European Union’s Court of Justice which has its headquarters in Luxembourg. It was created in Strasbourg in 1959 and serves as a relevant jurisdictional body of the Council of Europe.
The Human Rights Palace
Strasbourg, capitale de l’Europe
The end of the Second World War signalled that it was time for the reconstruction and reconciliation of the peoples of Europe.
Four years after the end of the Second World War, ten European States (Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden) signed the Statute of the Council of Europe, an intergovernmental organisation founded on human rights, at St James’s Palace in London.
Lord Ernest Bevin, the United Kingdom’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, was the first to suggest making Strasbourg a symbol of European reconciliation. His proposition was based on choosing an average European city, and some perceived it to be a British manoeuvre designed to overshadow the central policies of the new initiative.
image © 2009 Google
European Parliament
Council of Europe
European Court of Human’s Right
Orangerie Park
River
Canal Marne-Rhine
Towards the city centre by tram
Main sights of the European District
The European destiny of Strasbourg
The European Flag
The prelude to Ode to Joy of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th symphony was chosen as the European anthem in 1971 and was publicly presented on the Day of Europe on 9 May, 1972.
The European Anthem
The European Parliament
The huge glass pavilion leaves no visitor unmoved. The building is an architectural, and above all technical, prowess. It was necessary to find the most adequate means of including a 750 seat Chamber (the largest in Europe), 1,133 offices, work spaces and relaxation areas, as well as adjacent administrative services. These complex constraints were carried out by the architecture firm Studio Europe, which delivered the building in 1999.
From the Ill River, the Parliament Building can be seen along a monumental glass façade which seems to symbolise the spirit of transparency of the European democracy. From the other side, the building’s facade is completely different, and for many, it oddly resembles the ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. Two large geometric figures are visible: the ellipse (the tower, at 60 metres high and 100 metres in diameter) that contains the circle (the Chamber) … and the circle that contains the ellipse. This allegory of tensions between the circle and the ellipse illustrates the confrontation and the alliance in the life of a democracy.
The building of the European Parliament was named “Louise-Weiss”, in honour of its first president.
Much has been written about the location of the Parliament’s headquarters. The plenary sessions take place in Strasbourg, while some additional meetings are held in Brussels and its general Secretariat in Luxembourg. Under pressure from lobby groups wanting the Parliament Building to be moved to Brussels, the European Council in Edinburgh confirmed Strasbourg as the official seat for the Parliament in December 1992, by the mutual insistence of François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl.
Its mission is to ensure compliance with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In 2007 alone, more than 100,000 cases were examined before the European Court of Human Rights.
Nonetheless, the European institutions have successfully navigated through the decades and are not only a part of Strasbourg’s landscape, but also a part of Europe’s.
Strasbourg is currently the seat of more than a dozen institutions and organisations, both European and international. Three of these – the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, and the European Council of Human Rights – have a strong international influence, and their buildings of monumental proportions (especially the Parliament Building) have become emblematic for the city.
European Parliament viewed from the Cathedral
© M.-C. Guernier, French Moments
Council of Europe © crédit photo Sébastien HANSSENS OT Strasbourg Alsace
European Flag
European Parliament © crédit photo
Yves NOTO-CAMPANELLA OT Strasbourg Alsace
European Parliament © crédit photo French Moments
Human Rights Palace © crédit photo AIRDIASOL - ROTHAN
OT Strasbourg Alsace
To make sure that this union work efficiently, a series of important institutions have been put in place over the last 60 years for its governance. Some are based in Brussels (the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council), others in Luxembourg (the Court of Justice of the European Union), in Strasbourg (the European Parliament), or in Frankfurt (the European Central Bank).
France became a founding-member of this formidable entity in 1957, when the European Community was instituted and every town-hall and many public and official buildings hang both French and European flags. Along with Germany and the UK, France is one of the powerful European countries which give an important impetus to European affairs.
The EU comprises 500 million inhabitants, making it the largest democratic zone in the world. If considered as a single economy, the 27 member-states form the first economic power, well before the United States, China and Japan. Since 1999, most of the states (with the notorious exception of the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark) have joined the eurozone. This abandon of monetary sovereignty is manifested by the use of a single currency across the EU: the euro currency.
Other successes of the EU include the development of a single market (since 1993), the free movement of people (Schengen Agreement), goods, services and capital.
The 27 member-states (with the year when they join the EU) are: Austria (1995), Belgium (1957), Bulgaria (2007), Cyprus (2004), Czech Republic (2004), Denmark (1973), Estonia (2004), Finland (1995), France (1957), Germany (1957), Greece (1981), Hungary (2004), Ireland (1973), Italy (1957), Latvia (2004), Lithuania (2004), Luxembourg (1957), Malta (2004), the Netherlands (1957), Poland (2004), Portugal (1986), Romania (2007), Slovakia (2004), Slovenia (2004), Spain (1986), Sweden (2004), and the United Kingdom (1973).
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-The anthem of the Union (based on the 'Ode to Joy' from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven).
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-The flag of the Union (a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background).
- The motto of the Union ('United in diversity' – ‘Unie dans la diversité’).
- The currency of the Union (the euro in 16 member-states).
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-Europe day (celebrated on 9 May throughout the Union)
The Symbols of the European Union
According to the EU delegation in Australia, approximately 45% of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s international reserves is held in euro (the same proportion as for the US dollar).
The EU is the second major destination for Australian foreign investment.
Australia is the 19th largest partner in two-way goods trade and the 10th in services trade.
In 2008, the EU was Australia’s largest partner for merchandise and service trading with two-way trade.
Australia and the European Union
To find out more about the European Union, visit the official EU website:
To find out more about the relationship between Australia and the European Union:
The European Union in 2010
The district of European institutions is located in Strasbourg‘s north, on the water’s edge at the confluence of the Ill River and the Marne-Rhine Canal.
