Proclaiming “Europe is our common future,” 27 EU leaders on Saturday signed a statement in Rome declaring their commitment to integrating the continent even as a series of crises has badly weakened the efforts and Britain prepares to leave the bloc.
The statement, known as the Rome Declaration and signed on the anniversary of the day the bloc’s foundations were laid 60 years ago, underscored the aspirations of a “unique union with common institutions and strong values, a community of peace, freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
However, in a nod to reality, the leaders acknowledged that they were “facing unprecedented challenges, both global and domestic,” including “regional conflicts, terrorism, growing migratory pressures, protectionism and social and economic inequalities.”
Photo: AFP
The ceremony took place in a hall in Rome that was richly decorated in frescoes depicting scenes from the ancient world. It is the same room where the Treaty of Rome was signed on March 25, 1957, by six countries. That event helped lay the groundwork for today’s union.
Moments after signing, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern raised his fists in triumph.
A keynote speaker, European Council President Donald Tusk, a Pole, recalled that his 60th birthday this month made him the “same age as the European Community,” a forerunner of the union, and a beacon for freedom and dignity for Poles during the communist era, when “it was forbidden to even dream about those values.”
Photo: AP
However, behind the pomp and ceremony were concerns about the prospect of the project’s failure — even its collapse. With Britain on Wednesday starting a two-year timetable to leave the union, British Prime Minister Theresa May was absent from the gathering.
In a speech at the Vatican on Friday, Pope Francis warned the leaders that their union “risks dying” as nations, and citizens, turned inward.
Underlining the disaffection with the union, protesters took to the streets on Saturday afternoon, shutting down Rome neighborhoods and railing against European technocrats, capitalism and shadowy economic powers.
Met by a large police presence, they marched under several banners, including those of trade unions and left-wing parties. Smoke bombs went off, and tensions rose between protesters and officers, but the march did not degenerate into rioting. Tight security measures were put into place days before.
“Europe was a dream that has turned into a nightmare,” 50-year-old Italian Mario De Giorgi said. “We are Italians who want more rights and a better life, what we had before the euro.”
That single currency, the bloc’s flagship economic project, is viewed by many as unfairly benefiting countries such as Germany while imposing painful austerity on others like Greece.
However, at other marches and sit-ins, many celebrated the treaty. The March for Europe held a rally close to the Roman palazzo where the signing took place.
“Europe gave us 60 years of peace, so I felt I had to give something back,” said Mauro Armadi, 23, who had traveled to Rome from Taranto, in Puglia, to show his support for the treaty.
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