Day of EU - 9th of May
Article
Europe Day is a day for commemorating "peace and unity in Europe”, celebrated on the 9th of May, by all Member States across the European Union. The date marks the anniversary of the historic 'Schuman Declaration' that sets out Robert Schuman’s ideal for a new form of political cooperation in Europe.
The first recognition of Europe Day was by the Council of Europe, introduced in 1964. The European Union later started to celebrate its own European Day in commemoration of the 1950 Schuman Declaration, which first proposed the European Coal and Steel Community, leading it to be referred to by some as "Schuman Day" or "Day of the United Europe". This is a day of reflection on the co-operation, prosperity and peace that has come about through the European project.
Many activities and festivities are done on this day every year across the European Union (EU) in order to mark the celebration of the EU. Both the members of the EU and the aspiring countries are taking part in these celebrations.
This year, 2026, many institutions - namely the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission - opened their doors to the public.
The Europe Day is a chance to celebrate the community of values. This special occasion is also an opportunity to connect with citizens and to showcase how the EU is working to protect and create opportunities for people and promote partnerships globally. It is the case with the ongoing Jean Monnet project Euro4VET. Each year, the participants in this project are marking the 9th of May with different activities.
This year, 2026, the partner schools in this project are gathering the students to organize an activity through which the students will become familiar with the way the main institutions of the European Union work.
100 students per country are actively involved in this activity, which means 500 students across the partner countries within the Euro4VET project.
The goal of this activity is to get the students acquainted with the 9th of May, the day when the European Union is celebrated, as well as to get the students familiar with the EU institutions.
Hence, in each of the countries of Euro4VET partnership (Finland, North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye), the students will make their own teams consisted of 5 students.
Namely, there will be 4 teams which will represent 4 different EU institutions: the Council of the EU, the European Council, the EU Parliament and European Commission. Each group is representing one EU institution.
They will make a short presentation about the role and scope of work of the institutions, and are invited to make poster presentation. These groups will be seated in different classrooms, each classroom representing one EU Institution.
The other 80 students from the schools (not part of the teams) will visit the “EU institutions” and get acquainted with them and their scope of work.
Hence, this Euro4VET activity will promote the EU, the institutions of the EU, and, in an educational way the Day of Europe will be celebrated across Portugal, Spain, Macedonia, Türkiye and Finland.
In this way, students will not only mark the Europe Day, but will also, on a practical and interactive activity, learn how the European Union functions, which institutions it consists of, and why European values such as peace, cooperation, solidarity and unity are important for all European countries.