CERN being the oldest European organisation has become an early symbol of a united Europe. The foundation of CERN was based on two main objectives: join the forces to make Europe competitive in nuclear and high energy physics and bring the European nations together. Later training and promotion of technologies became additional goals. Over the years CERN became de facto a world laboratory because of its unique facilities and is considered of one of the greatest achievements in science. A review of the successes but also failures in the history of CERN will be given.
