In its Special Message transmitting to the Consultative Assembly the Programme of Work of the Council of Europe (Doc. 238), the Committee of Ministers proposed that a Europe Day be instituted in member countries.
Such a day might become the European equivalent of " American Day ", which provides an annual occasion for celebrating the sense of brotherhood existing in the United States of America.
The Sixth Pan-European Congress, held at Baden-Baden on 1st November, 1954, considered various possible dates which could give rise to no objection on either political or religious grounds and unanimously decided upon the 21st March as a " Day of European Fellowship ".
This date, being the first day of spring, may be taken to symbolise the dawn of a new era of peace and unity among European peoples.
It is therefore proposed that the Assembly should adopt the following text:
The Assembly,
Warmly welcoming the proposal contained in the Special Message of the Committee of Ministers on the Assembly's Programme of Work (Doc. 238) that a Europe Day be instituted in member countries,
Recommends that this should be fixed on 2ist March, being the first day of spring.