" Europa - Issues made by certain European countries since 1956 (often with a common motif) to further the project of a United Europe and to commemorate the annual European Postal and Telecommunications Conference."

     From: Philatelic Terms Illustrated, 2nd edition
                by Russell Bennett and James Watson
                Stanley Gibbons Publications 1978

Sept. 15, 1956: "Six European countries issued the first in what has become an annual stamp issue commemorating the Conference Europeenne des Administrations des Postes et des Telecommunications (CEPT). The stamps have come to be known as Europa stamps and the first countries were Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Now, virtually all European countries are members and issue annual Europa stamps. At first, participating countries used a common design, but this was changed in 1974 to a common theme, with each country using an individual design based on that theme. An exception was 1984, when Europa stamps featured a common stylized bridge design to mark the 25th anniversary of CEPT. "

     From: Post Dates
                by Kenneth A. Wood
                Van Dahi Publications 1995