Stéphane Bern and Matthieu Noël receive on Friday in "Historically yours" Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, for an issue dedicated to the great historical figures who have thought about Europe.
The politician returns to the importance of May 9, 1950, the date of the Schuman Declaration, a founding text of what would become the European Union.
INTERVIEW
Chances are, May 8 marks the 1945 armistice, and a sunny holiday.
But when is May 9?
This day, consecrated Europe Day, is that of the Schuman Declaration, a key text in European construction.
A holiday in many European countries and defended on Friday by Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, in the special Europe issue of Stéphane Bern's program and
Historically yours
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"I would like May 9 to be a public holiday in France," explains the Secretary of State for European Affairs.
"But we risk having a little debate with the Ministry of Finance, because if we make an additional holiday, we must make another."
"The idea of Europe is based on religious and cultural roots"
For Clément Beaune, the most important thing is already to "make better known and understood the importance of May 9". "This Schumann declaration was an incredible project," he said. "Robert Schumann was born in Luxembourg to a mother who had changed nationality, to a father who had changed nationality, and he himself changed nationality. He spoke several languages, moreover. He knew what it was. was that a Europe that tears itself apart. He built a project that allowed us to avoid that. "
The Secretary of State believes that our mission today is to strengthen this project.
And that may mean changing the image of the European Union.
"Europe is not a cold construction, it does not come out of the hat of Robert Schumann with the idea that from above, we will impose a kind of big plan", he recalls, before outline the contours of a common European culture.
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"The idea of Europe is based on a common culture, religious and cultural roots", theorizes Clément Beaune. "There is no need to invent a European culture. There is a need to see that we have a heritage, that we have a form of familiarity between European countries, where we have the culture of coffee, the culture political debate and the hard-to-forge culture of democracy. "
He thus defends what he calls "a form of hot Europe", in opposition to the coldness of a Europe "of directives and summits". "Not only does it not speak to many people, but this Europe is a bit boring," he said. For Clément Beaune, European construction must therefore reconnect with its history. "We have something in common that has been forged by hundreds of years of wars, but also of commercial, cultural and scientific exchanges," he recalls. "We are European, without in any way denying the fact that we are French or Italian, and that we also have a regional or local identity."