FLORENCE, ITALY – This year, the 7th edition of The State of The Union takes place in Florence from 4th to 6th May 2017. Under the title Building a People’s Europe, the conference revolves around European citizenship.
The programme features the three Presidents of the European Institutions and the EC’s Chief Brexit Negotiator, who will discuss the most pressing issues facing Europe today.
On Thursday 4th May, sessions will take place at the European University Institute. The President of the Italian Senate and former anti-mafia magistrate Pietro Grasso will give the opening address. On Friday 5th May, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano will introduce a day of debate at the Palazzo Vecchio. The Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, will deliver a speech to close the conference.
In a rare event, the three Presidents of the European Institutions, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani and European Council President Donald Tusk, will each address the conference. European Commission ‘Chief Brexit Negotiator’ Michel Barnier will also deliver his first public speech on Brexit, shortly after the UK government will trigger Article 50.
European Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini, Commissioners Tibor Navracsics and Vera Jourova, European Parliament Vice-President Mairead McGuinness and the President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer will also be speakers. The Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid will deliver a keynote speech about Estonia’s fast-approaching presidency of the Council of the European Union. They will be joined by a diverse selection of panellists including politicians, policy-makers, academics and journalists.
«The annual State of the Union conference takes place at a particularly complex historical moment – says Renaud Dehousse, President of the European University Institute -. Rarely, in the past, has the European Union been confronted by so many pressing issues at one time. The current state of affairsrenders the engagement between scholars and policy-makers, already a hallmark of The State of the Union, all the more timely».
This year’s theme of European citizenship encompasses several issues of acute relevance for the future of Europe: the migration crisis, referendums and their consequences, the future of European citizenship, social solidarity and the free movement of people, economic and monetary integration, and state secrecy and security in Europe.
As part of the official calendar marking the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, this year’s edition of The State of the Union offers a particularly significant occasion for reflection on the past and future of Europe.
On Saturday 6th May, the European University Institute and Historical Archives of the European Union welcome all members of the public to an Open Day dedicated to music and culture at Villa Salviati.
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