A Committee of Sages, in the run-up to the meeting of March 2007, promoted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. It is the initiative launched by the Commission of the Bishops Conferences of the European Union (Comece), which sees 25 European personalities from 20 different countries working at the development of a report on the values of the European Union. During a press conference, the conclusions of which have been published today by Comece, Stephen Wall, one of the two secretaries of the Committee of Sages, formerly a permanent delegate of the United Kingdom to the EU, specified: "I am impressed by the weakness of the European project. Our member states remain nationalist, engrossed in their own domestic interests. One of the main tasks of the EU is to help overcome differences in the name of shared values, in particular solidarity among the EU member states and global responsibility for the world. It is about translating these values into factual policies". On his part, mgr. Noel Treanor, Secretary General of Comece, expressed the wish that "this new initiative may open a space in public opinion where the political leaders may be strong enough as to take brave positions". The report is going to be discussed by the Bishops of Comece and presented at the Congress in Rome (23-25 March 2007).
