ABSTRACT
One of the primary purposes of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which preceded the EU, was to put an end to the wars which had ravaged the continent for centuries. Today, descendants of the founding fathers of the ECSC can reasonably claim that:
by 2002 there have been 50 years without a general European war since the foundations of the present EU were laid in 1952;
Whatever the economic and political arguments about the future of Europe, this must surely stand as a great achievement which has brought enormous economic and political benefits in Europe and beyond.
