On March 25th 1957, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands signed the Treaties of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
It was sixty years ago, the european institutions therefore use this occasion to take stock of the progress achieved since the launch of the building of Europe. Above all, they focus on the future of the European Union, in order for it to come through the different challenges and crises it is coping with. Several events have been set up this week for this purpose.
On Tuesday 21st March, there was the « citizens’ parliament », where hundreds of Europeans were invited to share their thoughts on the improvement of the functioning of the European Union. EP President Antonio Tajani indeed said a couple days ago that the 60th anniversary of the Rome treaty would be “an opportunity to bring Europe closer to its citizens and to promote our values in the world. (…) Now more than ever, what we need is unity. We must change, but by no means weaken the EU.”
With this aim in mind, today, Saturday 25th March, the EU’s Rome Declaration will be adopted and released. It is a solidarity statement approved by the 27 member states, highlighting the fact that Theresa May is going to trigger the withdrawal of the United Kingdom in four days, on March 29th.
As numerous organisations are against these signs of unraveling, they organized Marches for Europe in european capitals, obviously starting with Rome. EU-logos Athéna is a partner for the March for Europe in Brussels, come meet with us at 2pm to prove that the European Union is not an obsolete institution.
Marine Pernod
To find out more :
- Facebook event March for Europe Brussels 25/03 https://www.facebook.com/events/813253335479258/?active_tab=about
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20170308IPR65669/summit-conclusions-and-future-of-the-eu-headline-wednesday%E2%80%99s-plenary-debates
- http://www.egmontinstitute.be/?events=60-years-after-rome-treaty
- https://europaunited.eu/2017/03/16/why-25-march-is-a-joyous-occasion-worth-celebrating-and-why-we-as-citizens-of-the-european-union-are-invited-to-send-a-signal-on-that-day/
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20170314STO66703/future-of-the-eu-parliament-gives-the-floor-to-citizens
- http://www.euronews.com/2017/03/23/keys-to-the-future-how-to-read-eus-rome-declaration
