Check against delivery!
Mr. de Vries,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen!
The heading of today’s event which is being co-hosted by
- the “Germany – Land of Ideas” nation-branding initiative and
- the Government’s location marketing agency “Invest in Germany”
is “Birth of a Great Idea”.
I would like to welcome you most cordially here at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in Berlin today.
I would like to welcome in particular the contemporary witnesses who have gathered here today:
- Professor Dr. Otto von Habsburg,
- Dr. Ernst Albrecht,
- Professor Dr. Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb,
- Dr. Jean François-Poncet,
- Dr. Jacques Santer,
- Professor Renée Haferkamp,
- Professor Bino Olivi,
- His Excellency, Ambassador Carlo Trojan,
- and Mr. Hubert Ehring.
Some of you were actually involved in shaping the Treaties of Rome back in 1957. You will give us the benefit of your experience as contemporary witnesses within the framework of the celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. Six partners originally signed the treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
Today – at the beginning of the 21st century – the Treaties of Rome stand for the vision of a unified Europe and for a gateway to new horizons. Germany and Europe face new realities. The main challenges involve shaping globalisation, securing sustainable energy supply and coping with climate change. New growth regions are emerging all over the world and this is also bringing about changes in economic importance and in political influence. Leading representatives from the business community will discuss the challenges facing the European Union in a global context in the second half of this event.
Gustav Stresemann, Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic and Nobel Peace Prize Winner said back in the 1920: “Europe in not an entity than is capable of surviving on its own. Europe can only survive within the world and within the global economy.”
These words still ring true in view of the global challenges we face today. None of the Member States could successfully represent their interests in the global context on their own. But the European Union certainly can. As a powerful union, Europe is a global player. It is due not least to this realisation that this Union meanwhile comprises 27 Member States.
This weekend we will be celebrating the birth of the Treaties of Rome with tens of thousand of people all over Europe. And rightly so! e are celebrating 50 years of hitherto unknown levels of peace, prosperity and freedom in Europe. We are celebrating the historical success of overcoming the division of Europe. Yet Europe is much more than merely an economic community.
Europe is based on shared values that unite us: values such as freedom, justice, the rule of law and respect for human rights. On Sunday, the Heads of State and Government will gather in Berlin at a summit chaired by our Federal Chancellor. They intend to reinforce these basic values and the obligations for the future arising from these basic values in the Berlin Declaration.
Europe - succeeding together! - this is the motto of our Presidency.
If we Europeans join forces and act together, we can successfully shape the future and do justice to the founding fathers’ vision of the birth of a great idea.
