S.M.I.L.E. project — Sharing Messina Ideal a Lesson for all Europe

General presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2015, 60 years after the Messina Conference, how can we best remember the ideals and lessons of the European integration process?

The S.M.I.L.E. cooperation project — Sharing Messina Ideal a Lesson for all Europe — launched by the Italian Council of the European Movement (CIME) involves the Jean Monnet Association (France), the Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (Luxembourg), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany) and the town of Messina (Italy).

After the failure of the European Defence Community (EDC) in 1954, the Messina Conference in June 1955 was a turning point in the revival of the European integration process. The main aim of the S.M.I.L.E. project is to help raise awareness of the importance of this major event in the light of current European issues so that we can draw lessons about the revival of the European Union.

The project will involve a series of activities for young people from the six founding countries of the European Community (Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), including a competition, a series of training sessions, the creation of a web platform and multimedia exhibitions. The project will culminate in a major conference to be held in Messina in late May 2015.

The project is also aimed at the new European Union Member States to help them further their knowledge and awareness of the ideals and dynamics that marked the early days of the European integration process.

The Italian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Education and Research, together with the archives of the European University Institute in Florence and the Italian-based University Association for European Studies (AUSE), are also involved in the project.

This European partnership is supported by the European Commission’s ‘Europe for Citizens’ Programme.

 

Project Manager at the CVCE: Marco Gabellini - marco [point] gabellini [at] cvce [point] eu