Episode 1: Out of the Ruins

Play from 0:00 You pay with the same money in Rome as in Berlin. In Lisbon, you call and surf at no extra cost. And for a semester abroad in Vienna, you don't need a visa. Eighty years ago, nobody would have believed you.

Play from 0:15 1945. The Second World War is over. More than 60 million people have died worldwide, and Europe's cities lie in ruins. For Germany and France, it was already their third war against each other. How do you stop this from ever happening again?

Play from 0:31 The answer comes on the ninth of May, 1950. France's foreign minister, Robert Schuman, proposes: France and Germany should pool their coal and steel. Why those, of all things? Back then, they were what you built tanks, cannons and warships from. If a joint authority keeps watch, no one can secretly rearm. That way, war should become "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible".

Play from 0:56 In 1951, six countries found the European Coal and Steel Community. Pay attention now: it has four building blocks. A High Authority, independent of the governments. It later becomes the European Commission. A Council for the countries' ministers: today's Council of the EU. An Assembly of members of the national parliaments. It becomes the European Parliament. And a Court of Justice that makes sure everyone follows the rules. No one decides alone. The EU still works according to this blueprint today.

Play from 1:29 Not everything works out: a joint European army fails. So the six turn to the economy. In 1957, they sign the Treaties of Rome, creating the European Economic Community. The goal: a common market without tariffs, where goods move freely across borders.

Play from 1:46 The Assembly now calls itself the European Parliament. And in 1979 comes its big moment: for the first time, people directly elect their members of the European Parliament.

Play from 1:58 Six countries become nine, then twelve. From 1993, the whole thing is called the European Union. Then there are fifteen, and in 2004, ten join at once, most of them from the former Eastern Bloc. Three more follow later, and in 2020, the United Kingdom leaves. Since 2009, Parliament has had an equal say with the Council on most laws. And the summits of heads of state and government become an institution of their own: the European Council.

Play from 2:28 Today: 27 countries, around 450 million people, 720 elected members. It all started with coal, steel and a simple idea: people who work together don't shoot at each other. Council of the EU, European Council, Council of Europe: only two of them belong to the EU. Which ones? We'll find out in episode two.