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Paneuropean Union

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Not to be confused with European Union or Pan-European identity.
"Pan-Europe" redirects here. Not to be confused with Pan-European.
International Paneuropean Union
Formation1923 (1923)
TypeEuropean unification movement
HeadquartersStrasbourg
Location
President
Alain Terrenoire (2004– )
Websitewww.international-paneuropean-union.eu

The International Paneuropean Union, also referred to as the Pan-European Movement and the Pan-Europa Movement, is the oldest European unification movement. It began with the publishing of Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi's manifesto Paneuropa (1923), which presented the idea of a unified European State. The Union's General Secretariat is located in Munich, but it has branches in many European countries.

The President of the Union since 2004 is Alain Terrenoire, former Member of Parliament in France and MEP and Director of the French Paneuropa-Union. Otto Habsburg became the International Honorary President of the International Paneuropean Union in 2004. Its Vice President is Walburga Habsburg Douglas, a member of the Swedish Parliament.

Members

As of January 2022, the Paneuropean Union consists of member organizations in 28 countries across Europe.[2]

History

The Austrian-Hungarian border crossing where the Pan-European Picnic took place in 1989

Coudenhove-Kalergi, a member of the Bohemian Coudenhove-Kalergi family and the son of an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and a Japanese mother, was the organisation's central figure and President until his death in 1972. The organisation was prohibited by Nazi Germany in 1933, and was founded again after the Second World War.[3] Winston Churchill lauded the movement's work for a unified Europe prior to the war in his famous Zurich speech in 1946.[4][5] The French branch was founded by Georges Pompidou and Louis Terrenoire, subsequently French President and Minister for Information respectively, with the support of Charles de Gaulle.Otto von Habsburg, the head of the Habsburg dynasty and former Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, became involved with the Paneuropean Union in the 1930s, was elected its Vice President in 1957 and became its International President in 1973, after Coudenhove's death.

The organisation was much reviled by the communist regimes of the Eastern Bloc. The organisation became renowned for its role in organising the Pan-European Picnic, an important event during the Revolutions of 1989.

Presidents

No. Image Name Term Notes
1 Count
Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi 		1923–1972 Elected the first International President in 1926
2 Otto von Habsburg, MEP 1973–2004 Former Crown Prince Otto of Austria-Hungary
3 Alain Terrenoire 2004–present Former Member of Parliament and MEP, France

Members

The Paneuropean Union lists the following as historical members:[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ^ This flag variant was displayed at the funeral procession for Otto of Habsburg in 2011.
  2. ^ "Member Organisations". Paneurope.
  3. ^ Kövics, E.; Boros-Kazai, Mary (1979). "Coudenhove-Kalergi's Pan-Europe Movement on the Questions of International Politics during the 1920s". Acta Historica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 25 (3/4): 233–266. JSTOR 42555262.
  4. ^ Michael Gehler; Wolfram Kaiser, Helmut Wohnout: Christdemokratie in Europa im 20. Jahrhundert: Christian democracy in 20th century Europe. Böhlau Verlag Wien, 2001, ISBN 3205993608, Seiten 595.
  5. ^ Trevor C. Salmon; William Nicoll: Building European Union: a documentary history and analysis. Manchester University Press, 1997, ISBN 0719044464, Seite 26.
  6. ^ Richard Vaughan, Twentieth-Century Europe: Paths to Unity, Taylor & Francis, 1979, ISBN 0064971724
  7. ^ "Pan-Europa – The parent idea of a united Europe". Paneurope.
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