From today to 6 June, conferences, debates, exhibitions and other celebratory initiatives are taking place in Messina to commemorate one of the main steps in the history of the European integration process. A program full of events promoted by the Municipality of Messina, the European Movement in Italy (CIME) and the University of Messina.
La Messina Conference it was held from 1 to 3 June 1955. It was an interministerial meeting of the six founding states of the ECSC. The foreign ministers of the six countries took part with the aim of relaunching the integration process after the failure of the EDC (European Defense Community) project. A meeting that began with difficulty but which surprisingly ended with a resolution known as the "Declaration of Messina".
The six countries announced a series of principles and objectives aimed at the creation of the European Atomic Energy Community (or Euratom) and of what it will become, in the space of two years, with the signing of the Treaties of Rome of 1957, the European Common Market (MEC, then EEC and then the European Union).
In the difficult moments of relations between the Member States of the European Union, attention has already been paid to it “spirit of Messina”, who animated the Conference and the founding fathers of the European Community that that Conference inspired. Today the European Union needs a new impetus, to face the challenges that history places on its path. Above all, it needs to rethink itself starting from its cultural origins and values that sink into the Mediterranean basin with all its contradictions, but also with its thousand-year history and its potential.
Insights and comparisons on the future of the EU that looks towards the Mediterranean will be the leitmotif of intense days of meetings marked by both celebrations and debates. For the opening of the celebrations on June 3, the presence of, among others, is expected Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Senate Foreign Affairs Commission. Gaetano Silvestri, President Emeritus of the Constitutional Court; Enrique Barón Crespo, President of the European Foundation for Information Society, former president of the European Parliament and of the International European Movement together with various representatives of the countries belonging to the Union for the Mediterranean.
They will be introduced by greetings from the Mayor of Messina Renato Accorinti, the President of CIME, Pier Virgilio Dastoli and the Rector of the University of Messina, Pietro Navarra as well as from president of the Sicily Region, Rosario Crocetta and by the president of ANCI Sicily, Leoluca Orlando.
Between 4 and 5 June work sessions will then alternate in the Palaculture “Antonello da Messina” dedicated respectively to "Conflicts and policies for peace in the Mediterranean", "The management of new migratory flows", "The challenge of climate change" with the participation of numerous Italian and foreign experts. Then on the morning of 6 June at Palazzo Zanca the theme "For the construction of a Mediterranean Community" will be addressed again.
On the morning of 5 June in the Palacultura Auditorium, an in-depth historical and political event dedicated to young people will be organized entitled “Messina, 60 years later. From Little Europe to the unification of the continent" during which the winners of the school competitions dedicated to the sixtieth anniversary and promoted in the six founding states of the EEC will be presented and awarded. This is one of the activities of the SMILE (Sharing Messina Ideal a Lesson for all Europe) project co-financed by the EU's "Europe for Citizens" program and conducted by CIME, the Municipality of Messina and other European partners. For the occasion, the collaboration of the Provincial Council of the Students of Messina is also foreseen.
In the atrium of the Palacultura an exhibition called “Sicily and Europe” promoted by the Historical Archives of the European Union at the European University Institute of Florence and an exhibition dedicated to the founding fathers of Europe promoted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Both will be inaugurated on 4 June at 9.15 am from Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers with responsibility for European affairs, Sandro Gozi.
Among the activities that will take place in parallel during the days of 4 and 5 June, there is also a high-profile academic seminar entitled “The challenges of the European Union 60 years after the Messina Conference”, organized by the University of Messina together with other partners at the Aula Magna of the University, which will be attended by many of the most representative Italian and foreign professors in subjects related to the European Union as well as various political leaders.
A work session of the Commission of the International European Movement dedicated to the themes of Security, Neighborhood and Immigration will also take place on 5 June in the afternoon. The various activities will be crowned by a final session to be held on the morning of 6 June in the Sala delle Bandiere of Palazzo Zanca, chaired by the President of CIME, Pier Virgilio Dastoli together with the Mayor of Messina, Renato Accorinti and the councilor for culture, Tonino Perna with the intervention of President of the Senate, Pietro Grasso.
During this session, the Messina Appeal will be publicly read, a new text shared by all participants in the days, which aims to provide ideas and formulate wishes on how to proceed in the next stages of the integration process. Attached is the complete program of the initiatives and fact sheet relating to the exhibition "Sicily and Europe".
For more information, contact:
Italian Council of the European Movement – tel. 0636001705 – segreteria@movimentoeuropeo.it
www.movimentoeuropeo.it
