Pierre Werner and Luxembourg: A vision for Europe

Dr Elena Danescu, a Research Scientist in the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) at the University of Luxembourg, then presented her book “Pierre Werner and Europe. The Archives Behind the Werner Report”, containing a foreword by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and a preface by Professor Harold James from Princeton University, recently released by the prestigious academic publisher Palgrave Macmillan. This book, the result of a multidisciplinary research project based on the exploration of Pierre Werner’s family archives – opened for the first time for research purposes –, as well as various international archives and a series of original oral history interviews, looks back at the career and achievements of a man who was Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Luxembourg for many decades, leaving his legacy on the future of his country and the European integration process. Many of the bold initiatives he pioneered – including diversifying and expanding Luxembourg’s economy, promoting the country to the status of an international financial centre, developing the audiovisual industry via the satellite project, laying the foundations for an economic and monetary union in Europe and developing a culture of social dialogue and consensus – were subsequently taken up by his successors.Pierre Werner and Europ