The College of Europe is the world’s first institute of postgraduate studies and training in European affairs.
It was founded in 1949 by leading European figures such as Salvador DE MADARIAGA, Winston CHURCHILL, Paul Henri SPAAK and Alcide DE GASPERI in the wake of the first Congress of the European Movement in The Hague in 1948. The idea was to establish an institute where university graduates from many different European countries could study and live together in preparation for careers related to European cooperation and integration.
On the second day of SHARING EUROPE in The Hague people gathered in The Ridderzaal in The Hague, the very same place where the Congress of The Hague in 1948 took place.