Paying tribute to the millions who lost their lives in the “Great War” and changed circumstances, he said “90 years after the end of the First World War, the era of wars between countries of the European Union belongs to history.”
 
Between February and December 1916 Verdun was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the War resulting in more than a quarter of a million dead and at least a million wounded.
 
Mr Pöttering contrasted that with the present situation in Europe. The EU is “a community based on law and solidarity, a community in which the rights of all countries - small, medium and large, fundamental and human rights are respected. This development is unique in the world, almost a miracle in the history of the 20th century full of immense human suffering.”
 
The war resulted in an estimated 40 million casualties - including approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths.
 
Political, economic and moral devastation brought turmoil to interwar Europe and left many grievances that were later exploited in the run up to the Second World War.
 
Also attending the ceremony in Verdun are French President Nicolas Sarkozy, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Grand Duc Henri de Luxembourg, Lady Quentin Bryce - Governor General of Australia and Peter Müller, President of the German Bundesrat.