9 May 2022

"In 1950, the European integration process began as a decision to pool coal and steel productions, thanks to the idea of an enlightened politician such as the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. Today, just as realistically, the EU is called upon to make a decisive qualitative leap: adopting a common energy, foreign and defence policy. In this historical moment only an united Europe can protect us from the abyss of the nearby war. Only an united Europe can build peace. Europe needs change to face the challenges of the new world advancing before our eyes." The Undersecretary for European Affairs, Vincenzo Amendola, thus commented from the final session of the Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg, on the occasion of the 72^nd Europe Day.

Amendola then added, "On this occasion I wish to recall David Sassoli’s words that today sound prophetic. In his inaugural speech as President of the European Parliament in 2019, Sassoli issued a warning. ‘We must recover the spirit of Ventotene – he said – and the pioneering impetus of the Founding Fathers, who knew how to put aside the hostilities of war, put an end to the failures of nationalism by developing a project capable of combining peace, democracy, rights, development and equality’. His legacy is still effective and more relevant than ever. We are now called upon to take the next step towards a European Union that is capable of asserting itself as an international player.”