The euro is in crisis, long live the euro! The Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna, the oldest university in Europe, indirectly enters the debate on the single currency, reaffirming its value with the delivery of the Sigillum Magnum to three of the founding fathers: Romano Prodi, Jean-Claude Juncker and Helmut Kohl .
The ceremony, as anticipated today by the Corriere di Bologna, will take place on March 13 in the apsidal hall of Santa Lucia where the magnificent rector Ivano Dionigni will deliver the highest academic honor. The former German prime minister will not personally attend the appointment, for health reasons, while Prodi and Juncker are expected.
The Alma Mater has chosen the three statesmen for the work done in the creation of the currency: Prodi as premier of the Italian government and president of the European Commission from 99 to 2004; Juncker as prime minister of Luxembourg and president of the Eurogroup since 2005; Kohl German chancellor in the crucial years of the reunification of Germany and the birth of the euro.
It is not the first time that the Sigillum Magnum has been awarded to great patrons of Europe: in 2002 it was also awarded to Jacques Delors, president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995.
