Memory and project

“With this programme we intend to express with pride the achievements and successes obtained in fifty years of European integration. But at the same time we would like there to be many more occasions in 2007 on which to reflect on the current difficulties of the Community process and on the future of the Eu”, declared ALEJO VIDAL-QUADRAS , the Spanish Vice-President of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He was explaining the aims that the Union has set itself in drawing up “the packed programme of events to commemorate the half century of the founding Treaties of the Eec”, signed in Rome on 25 March 1957. For its part Comece (Commission of the episcopates of the European Community) held a seminar on the Treaties of Rome at Clermont Ferrand (France) on 9-11 October, also in preparation for the celebrations planned for the anniversary in Rome from 23 to 25 March 2007 (cf. SirEurope 66/2006). EXTRAORDINARY SUMMIT IN BERLIN. To mark the 50th “birthday” of the Eu on 25 March 2007, an extraordinary summit of heads of state and of government will be held in Berlin. The summit is being hosted by Germany, the country that will hold the Presidency of the European Council in the first half of next year. To this end the contacts between the government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the head of the Executive in Brussels, José Manuel Barroso, are being stepped up. The political leaders of the 27 (for by then the Union will have been further enlarged with the accession of Romania and Bulgaria) will sign a joint “Declaration on the Future of Europe”, to reaffirm their determination to revive the Community project of the “founding fathers” of Europe, while at the same time updating its values and objectives. Berlin ought also to represent a new stage towards the approval of the Eu Constitution, which has been stalled since it was rejected by the citizens of France and Holland in the referenda held in June 2005. THE MAIN EVENTS. Concurrently with the summit in the German capital, a meeting of European youth will be held in Rome on 24-25 March. It will tackle the same issues as the summit (an event organized by Comece, Commission of the episcopates of the European Community, linked to the 50th anniversary of the Community, is also being planned in the Italian capital on the same days). On 28 March the European Parliament will hold an official commemoration of the signing of the founding Treaties, while on 9 Mary, Europe Day, a meeting of eyewitnesses of the event in 1957, to reconstruct its spirit and reiterate its historical importance, will be held. “We wish to dedicate the whole of next year to discussing the future of the Union with citizens. We must understand, all together, that the Eu has a need for the institutional changes” contained in the Constitution: “We must also reflect on the need to open up Europe to the world”, said MARGOT WALLSTRÖM , Vice-President of the European Commission, in a briefing to SIR , in which she explained the aims that prompted the Eu to promote the events to commemorate the anniversary of the Eec Treaties. “They are – she said – important steps to pursue the process of integration and they cannot just be taken by the political leaders of the member states. Citizens also need to be involved”, so that their voice may reach the Eu institutions. But, added the Swedish Commissioner, “a real political leadership in the Eu cannot be lacking” either, especially in this phase. CITIZENS, YOUTH AND THE FUTURE. “We have defined three main priorities for the commemorations – continued the Commissioner -. First, we will continue our efforts to involve European citizens, with initiatives promoted both by the Eu and by member states; these will be held in the member countries as well as in Berlin, Rome and Brussels. Second, the celebrations of the 50th anniversary should not just look backwards, to review the history we have shared and the results we have achieved, but should also look forward, to the new challenges that await the Union. Third, we wish to involve the young”. To this end various events have been planned in schools, initiatives with the contribution of artists and exponents of European culture, twinned towns, and “white nights” in various cities to “give scope to continental culture”. “TOGETHER”, THE MEANING OF THE LOGO. The logo “Together”, recently chosen as the symbol for the 50th anniversary of the Eu, will be used to distinguish all the commemorative events. “The winning logo represents the diversity and strength of Europe and at the same time underlines the desire for the unity and solidarity of our continent”, explained Wallström. She also commented on the positive outcome of the competition held to define the logo for the celebrations of the 50th anniversary, in which 1,701 youngsters from all the countries of Europe took part. The winning design was submitted by Szymon Skrzypczak from Poland. Vidal-Quadras, who chaired the jury that chose the winner, commented: “The success registered by the competition throughout Europe proves we were right to place out trust in the young”.