"The union and its forerunners have for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe," Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said in Oslo.
In a first reaction from one of the three main EU institutions, European Parliament head German Socialist Martin Schulz said on Twitter he was "deeply touched, honoured that the EU has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Reconciliation is what the EU is about. It can serve as an inspiration."
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said it was a "great honour" for the entire 27-member bloc.
The prize for the EU, however, is a shocker at a time when European solidarity is facing its most daunting challenge in decades amid deep rifts between a south drowning in debt and a wealthier north, led by Germany, only reluctantly coming to the rescue.
Whether or not that begrudging assistance will keep the European project afloat remains to be seen, but the deep crisis has broadened the gulf already felt between citizens in the different member states and a Brussels long seen as too distant and bureaucratic.
"The EU is currently undergoing grave economic difficulties and considerable social unrest," Jagland acknowledged Friday.
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to focus on what it sees as the EU's most important result: the successful struggle for peace and reconciliation and for democracy and human rights. The stabilising part played by the EU has helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace," he said.
The creation of the organisation is credited with helping to bring peace and stability to the war-torn continent by bringing together arch-enemies France and Germany and herding them down the same path.
Despite recurring difficulties, the EU has become the biggest common market in the world, allowing free circulation of goods, people, services and capital.
(source: economicstimes.indiatimes.com)
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