The first number of the newsletter of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Holy See and to the UN organizations in Rome has recently been published. The aim of the newsletter is to maintain contacts between the various institutions and inform on activities, objectives and initiatives. “The European Commission – explains ambassador Luis Ritto, head of the Delegation, in the first number of the newsletter – is trying to improve the visibility of the European Union. To this end we will try to explain the work we do in Rome and throughout the world”. The European Union is in fact the main donor of aid to the developing countries through the three UN organizations based in Rome: the FAO, the WFP (World Food Programme) and IFAD (International Fund of Agricultural Development). The head of the Delegation was officially received in audience by Benedict XVI on 24 June 2006, thus rectifying a “diplomatic anomaly” (as explained in the newsletter) that had existed for over 30 years, i.e. ever since diplomatic relations were established between the European Commission and the Holy See, in 1970. The Vatican in fact has an apostolic nuncio in Brussels, but the European Union had hitherto failed to send their own delegate to Rome. This year the member countries of the EU “finally decided to establish relations between the European Commission and the Holy See on the basis of a more appropriate reciprocity”, says the newsletter.
