The European Union celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday. On March 25, 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed the Treaties of Rome, creating the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community. The six countries' aspiration to form a common market through the removal of trade barriers was based on their determination to prevent future wars through economic cooperation and integration.
The fact that European leaders celebrated the EU's 50th birthday in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel serving as the EU's rotating president was a positive symbol. Germany started World War II and had fought many other wars, with France especially. It is remarkable that such ominous rivalry has disappeared from the face of Europe.
Ms. Merkel grew up in Stalinist East Germany. When the Treaties of Rome were signed, 15 of the current 27 EU member nations were under dictatorship or deprived of independence, as pointed out by former Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, the EU's executive body. Now some 490 million people in the EU member nations enjoy freedom of thought, speech and movement.