EU marks 60 yrs of Rome treaty

Rome, March 25 

Europeans must contain their squabbling and carping about the EU if the Union is to survive, leaders warned on Saturday as they marked the 60th anniversary of its founding in Rome by signing a formal declaration of unity.

Meeting without Britain just days before it triggers its divorce. from the EU, the other 27 countries signed a new declaration on the Capitoline Hill where six founding states signed the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957.

With the EU facing crises including migration, a moribund economy, terrorism and populism, as well as Brexit, EU President Donald Tusk called for leadership to shore up the bloc.

But days of wrangling about the wording of a 1,000-word Rome Declaration, May's impending Brexit confirmation and tens of thousands of protesters gathering beyond the tight police cordon around the Campidoglio palace, offered a more sober reminder of the challenges of holding the 27 nations to a common course.

“We have stopped in our tracks and this has caused a crisis of rejection by public opinion,” said their host, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, noting Britons' repudiation of the EU.

He said the failure to push the project forward during a decade of economic slump had fueled a re-emergence of “blinkered nationalism”. Rome offered a fresh start: “The Union is starting up again ... and has a vision for the next 10 years,” he said.

Others, however, are wary of such enthusiasm for giving up more national sovereignty-and also of others in the Union moving faster with integration. Poland's nationalist government has led protests against a “multispeed Europe”, which it fears would consign the poor ex-communist east to second-class status.

Leaders hailed the visionary “war generation” of leaders from old foes France and Germany who signed the Treaty of Rome in the same room on March 25, 1957, along with Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; some offered personal memories of their own generation's debts to the expanding European Union.

French President Francois Hollande said the message from Rome was, “we're stronger together,” while German Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed: “a great day for Europe.”

The White House, meanwhile, congratulated the EU on its 60th birthday, in a notable shift in tone for President Donald Trump's administration, whose deep scepticism about the bloc has alarmed Brussels. — Agencies

What happened in Rome on March 25, 1957

• The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) which is seen as a major stepping stone in the creation of the EU. The EEC established a common market, which gave members the freedom to move goods, services, capital and people, and also a customs union among the founding states
• It was signed in Rome in March 25, 1957 by France, the then West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg
• There were actually two treaties signed that day. The second was the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) which aimed to develop peaceful applications of atomic energy