Let’s Celebrate Europe Day – and Europe’s Super Power!

On the occasion of Europe Day André Wilkens, Director of the European Cultural Foundation, explains why he wishes you a Happy Europe Day!

The global struggle unfolding today is increasingly a battle over narratives, meanings and identities. Having grown up on the other side of the Berlin Wall, I have seen this dynamic before. The first cold war was not won by military and economic strength alone. It was also won by cultural vitality — Europe’s music, films, literature, and everyday freedoms carried a power no authoritarian regime could counter. Europe’s model was attractive because it was not only efficient. It was meaningful.

Today, Europe risks forgetting this lesson.

Europe cannot defend democracy if it does not defend culture. Culture is Europe’s superpower. It is the power of purpose, resilience, hope — and future. But a superpower unused is a superpower wasted.

Culture is the space where societies negotiate meaning, where disagreement becomes dialogue, and where shared identity is formed. It is where we decide what we value and what we refuse to give up. When cultural freedom shrinks, democratic resilience shrinks with it.

That is why attacks on cultural freedom and the defunding of cultural institutions are not collateral damage. They are strategic. They aim to weaken the democratic immune system from within. If we want to counteract this, we must feel connected to our freedom and the  institutions safeguarding them.

Surveys consistently show that Europeans want a Europe they can feel — a Europe present in public spaces, schools, libraries, festivals, and local rituals. They want a Europe that exists not only in regulations but in daily life. They want a Europe that belongs to them.

Every country has its national holidays—moments to rest, reflect, and celebrate. Europe has one too: 9 May is Europe Day—a time to celebrate everything we share. But for most of us, it comes and goes like any other workday. That needs to change.

If policymakers want Europeans to feel connected to the European project, there must also be moments when that connection becomes tangible.

Let us celebrate Europe Day.

To me, the united Europe of today is a miracle worth celebrating. Not because everything is perfect — far from it — but because this cooperation across borders, languages and histories was never inevitable. It is something that has been built, defended and renewed over time.

What sustains Europe today is not only policy or institutions, but culture as lived practice. In libraries responding to social change. In artists making shared experiences visible. In conversations about democracy, digital space and public value. In solidarity with those who continue cultural work under the most difficult conditions. And in ongoing debates about how Europe invests in its future.

Europe Day invites us to recognise these efforts as connected. It reminds us that Europe is not an abstract project, but a collective one — fragile, unfinished, and still worth celebrating together.

The Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950 put forward a bold idea: build a Europe so connected that war cannot happen. 76 years later, that idea remains unfinished. Europe is more than a place. It is a constant work in progress – shaped by people, pressure, and possibility. Solidarity. Democracy. Diversity. Beyond slogans, these are things we still need to defend.

All this reminds us that Europe is not a given, but a choice. A choice we must continue to make everyday, cherish daily, and give substance to. To begin with, by wishing each other a Happy Europe Day on May 9!

The illustrations were commissioned as part of Europe Day 2026 – a creative collaboration of the European Culture Foundation and Fine Acts. You can download the collection via this link.