Large-scale thought and action

“Stepping up cultural cooperation between Italy and Germany and furthering German-Italian dialogue on the concept of national unity, amplifying it at European level and directing it towards the future” in order to contribute “to the path leading towards European unity” and to establishing “an awareness of a common home that is still lacking”. This is the objective of the international conference “Unity: History – Myth – Vision”, which the Alcide De Gasperi Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation promoted in Rome on December 16 at the Chamber of Deputies, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Unity of Italy. Maria Romana De Gasperi, daughter of the notable Italian statesman and vice-president of the Foundation that bears his name, illustrated the event to SIR Europe: “Europe must be at the heart of the agenda, as my father would say”, Mrs. De Gasperi remarked during the meeting. Italy and Germany. “What contribution could be offered by Italy and Germany” so that “the target of European unity is not missed, and that its gradual achievement is thus ensured? Asked the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Christian Wulff in his address to participants. “How can our European values be preserved and circulated in the world of tomorrow, shaped with the contribution of emerging economies in the five continents?” he continued. In his message, the President of the Republic of Italy Giorgio Napolitano said he believes that “a compared analysis of the events experienced by the two Countries, identifying the similarities and the differences in the perception of the unitary process”, will contribute to giving “new thrust to institutional and cultural relations”. Sides of the same coin. “The vision of European unity founded on peace, freedom and democracy was not established in Brussels or in Rome. It was born 175 years ago with the dream of a German State within a European Federation”, since “the unity of Germany and that of Europe are the sides of the same coin”. Thus declared historian and jurist Jurgen Ruttgers, former German Prime Minister. Presented shortly before by the organizers of the meeting like “one of the most committed supporters and accompaniers of Germany’s reunification”, the jurist pointed out that today his Country “appears to be lacking founding myths”. Nonetheless, “the response to the quest for a myth in contemporary Germany is the force that characterized the ‘peaceful revolution’ leading to reunification, when people prayed even holding candles in their hands”. “Courage” and “vision”, both fundamental in Berlin, concluded Ruttgers, “are what Europe most needs today”. “With” and “for” citizens. “A milestone of the European building is the Treaty of Lisbon that boosts EU democracy, transparency and efficiency, although a long road still lies ahead” said the president of the Adenauer Foundation (KAS) Hans-Gert Pöttering, former president of the European Parliament. In the address read by the president of the KAS-Rome Friends, Thomas Jansen, as Pöttering was held back by a sudden bereavement, the president to the Foundation acknowledges the widespread belief that “at European level a shared understanding of our roots is still lacking”. However, he added, there exists “a collective account of the European building”, that “should become more visible”. In order to become “the source and thrust of the future, the idea of Europe must be strongly anchored within our consciences, since, as Monnet used to say, without a vision peoples are doomed to disappear”. According to Pöttering, it is necessary to “ensure that the EU is perceived by its populations not as a bureaucratic structure but rather as a community of values; it cannot be created ‘against’ the citizens but rather ‘with’ and ‘for’ them”.Investing in the youth. “27 Member States, over 500 million inhabitants, the largest domestic market in the world, a single currency in 16 Countries”. This, underlined Thomas Jansen, former PPE secretary general and president of the Friends of the Adenauer Foundation – Rome, “is Europe today, but its history is over two-thousand years long”. The EU, Jansen told SIR Europe, is the synonym of “peace, democracy, freedom, rule of the law, respect of human rights”, but “the youth risk taking these achievements for granted”. They must be made aware and be involved, “so as to act as the investment for the future of the European project”. Indeed, he concluded recalling his own experience as professor at the Faculty of International Sciences of the University of Gorizia, “among the youth there are convinced Europeanists, who are motivated and skilled”. Today, underlined the President of the Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini, “we must look ahead and enhance the universal bearing of national identities” so as to “ensure that populations’ quest for identity becomes the quest for shared values in the European realm”.