11 April 2022

"Young citizens of Europe are calling for a stronger Europe that is up to our changing world. We must listen to them, starting from the requests and ambitions of the Conference on the Future of Europe and opening up to the reform of the Treaties." Vincenzo Amendola, Undersecretary for European Policies and Affairs, wrote it on Twitter after his address to the assembly held at the Sala Protomoteca of the Campidoglio, richly attended by students from Roman high-schools.

The event, promoted by the Department for European Policies and by Roma Capitale just over a month before the final event of the Conference on the Future of Europe scheduled for 9 May 2022, was an opportunity to collect proposals and questions from the 150 high-school and university students. In addition to Undersecretary Amendola, the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and the Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Benedetto Della Vedova, answered to the questions posed by the students.

"Rome is at the heart of the European reconstruction and is the most symbolic stage, because a message towards the final assembly on 9 May starts from here," said Amendola. "It is today’s choices that we are debating and must be debated within the Conference on the Future of Europe. I am referring first of all to the battle to save the planet and ensure climate neutrality. Today the future of Europe lies in challenging the use of weapons and war against the rights of peoples, in a Union that must address healthcare, fiscal policy, energy, economic governance, but first and foremost peace and the free and democratic coexistence of peoples."

"David Sassoli declared the EU is not an accident of history, rather it is people’s response to the need for peace, solidarity and union in an increasingly competitive global context, and we must defend our identity card, namely freedom, democracy, and participation."