Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Europeans take to streets on Treaty of Rome anniversary

European Union leaders have stressed the need for unity at a celebration in the Italian capital marking 60 years since the Treaty of Rome was signed.

Twenty-seven European Union countries, not including the UK, signed a new declaration to honour the 1957 treaty, which led to the bloc's foundation.

With Brexit looming, UK PM Theresa May is not attending the celebrations.

European Commission head, Jean-Claude Juncker, spoke of a new mood of optimism about the way forward.

"The atmosphere is now such that we can approach this with confidence," he said, referring to the future of the bloc as Britain leaves.

Mrs May plans to launch the Brexit process on Wednesday by formally triggering article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Pro-EU march in London goes silent for attack victims

On the Capitoline Hill, where the six original states signed the Treaty of Rome on 25 March 1957, the 27 leaders put their names to a declaration of unity.

"Prove today that you are the leaders of Europe, that you can care for this great legacy we inherited from the heroes of European integration 60 years ago," European Council President Donald Tusk said. "Europe as a political entity will either be united, or will not be at all."

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany described the signing of the declaration as moving. She also repeated the German position that different members of the EU could move at different speeds - a notion opposed by Poland.

"A Europe of different speeds does not mean that there is not a unified Europe.

"We clearly say that we want to go in the same direction, and there are some things non-negotiable like the single market, the four basic freedoms, that are our values of liberty, of freedom of opinion, of freedom of speech, of freedom of press, of freedom of religion, and that makes us strong, and we shall not compromise on that."

EU abuzz ahead of two key dates

David Willey: My part in the Treaty of Rome signing

Image copyright AFP Image caption The declaration stresses unity in the bloc

The celebratory summit comes as the EU faces a range of challenges, including Brexit and the rise of populist parties.

Pro- and anti-EU protests took place in several member states. Thousands gathered for a march in London against Brexit; and in the Polish capital, Warsaw, thousands took to the streets to show solidarity with the EU.

In pictures: Marches in major cities mark EU anniversary

In Rome itself, there were a range of protests, both opposed to and in favour of the EU. The Eurosceptic Fratelli d'Italia met in a central university hall to declare that the bloc needed to be "shut down".

Security has been tightened across the Italian capital following Wednesday's terrorist attack in London.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The pro-EU Committee for Democracy Defence (KOD) in Warsaw

Image copyright AFP Image caption Anti-EU protesters in Rome

Pope Francis welcomed the leaders to the Vatican on the eve of the summit.

In a speech, he said that all bodies risk dying if they do not look ahead, and thus urged the EU to approach the future with renewed vigour.

He also warned against "false forms of security" promised by populists who want to wall themselves off, and instead urged greater solidarity.

The original Treaty of Rome launched the European Economic Community, the EU's forerunner.

It was signed by six countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.

The US was among those countries that sent congratulatory messages to EU leaders.

"Together we look forward to another 60 years and more of shared security and shared prosperity," read the White House statement.

President Donald Trump has more often been critical of the union, calling Brexit a "good thing", and predicting more countries will follow suit.

The tough road ahead - by Damian Grammaticas, Europe correspondent

In a new Declaration of Rome, the 27 countries are reaffirming their shared desire to continue with what is a greatly expanded and deepened union.

But there are huge challenges.

The UK's looming exit is the Union's biggest setback ever.

And after a decade of crises and sense of growing threats at home and abroad, European leaders are looking for ways to reinvigorate their project, but struggling to find a united way forward.</s>March 25th 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the agreement that effectively gave birth to the European Union. Here's everything you need to know about the Treaty of Rome.

What is the Treaty of Rome?

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 1957 by France, the then West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg - the core of the original EEC, who described themselves as "determined to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe".</s>ROME – European Union leaders are due to meet in Rome on Saturday, March 25, to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which saw the foundation of the European Economic Community (ECC), the precursor to the modern-day European Union.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly will not attend the Treaty of Rome celebrations that are taking place less than a week before she is due to formally trigger Article 50, which will begin the formal procedure for the UK to leave the EU.</s>As Britain prepares to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May turned down her invitation to the celebrations on Saturday March 25. EU leaders will come together in Rome tomorrow to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which was signed on March 25 1957. The Treaty of Rome was signed by the six founding members in Rome and came into force the next year, paving the way for the development of the EU that we know today.

The union traces its very first origins back to the European Coal and Steel Community, which was established in 1951 as way to integrate coal and steel industries. But the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) in a bid to improve cooperation between Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The treaty led to the formation of a common market for goods and services and it marked the start of the longest period of peace in European history.

The EEC later changed its name to the European Union (EU) to reflect its growing involvement in policy areas such as development aid and the environment. The Treaty of Rome was later amended by the Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992 and the Lisbon Treaty signed in 2009. To mark the 60th anniversary, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “Our parents and grandparents founded this Union with one common vision: never again war.

He added: "The European Union has changed our lives for the better. We must ensure it continues to do so for those that will follow us. For now, all roads lead to Rome. "After Rome and however it is paved, there is only one way forward: European unity.” But Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minster of Greece, said there was no reason for the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary.

“[The summit] is a wake that is being portrayed as a celebration,” he told the Telegraph. “We are not Eurosceptics but what the establishment is doing will only accelerate the disintegration of the EU.” Mr Varoufakis argued that the EU is in a “great state of disrepair” and that its legitimacy has died in the public eye. He added: “Europeans watching on their TV screens their leaders celebrating here in Rome will be asking themselves: what exactly are they celebrating?”</s>Only once, and fleetingly, was the 28th member state of the European Union mentioned during the formalities of a distinctly sombre summit in Rome held to mark the 60th anniversary of the bloc. And it was not to celebrate what Boris Johnson has taken to describing as Britain’s liberation.

Lamenting the EU’s failure to respond adequately enough to the economic crisis of 2008, the Italian prime minister Paolo Gentolini told leaders and dignitaries: “That [failure] triggered in part of public opinion – unfortunately the majority of public opinion in the United Kingdom – it triggered a crisis of rejection. It brought forward the nationalism that we thought had been closed down in the archives.”

This was always billed by officials in Brussels as a low-key event; a moment to take stock, and to reflect on the fruits of cooperation, rather than pick at the inconveniences. And so it proved. Leaders of the 27 member states that will remain once the UK finally leaves in March 2019 arrived one by one at the Orazi and Curiazi Hall of the Capitol, in the Piazza del Campidogli, to a rather forbidding silence. Crowds had been kept at a distance, due to a wide security perimeter. Only a gaggle of cameramen sweating under a hot sun bore witness to their arrival at the hall, where 60 years ago crowds had braved a torrent of spring rain to watch on.

Once inside the hall, where representatives of six nations – France, the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and Italy – had signed in 1957 what was to become the Treaty of Rome, the speeches proved equally as solemn. Between short videos documenting how the EU had salvaged Europe from a tragic history of bloodshed, Gentolini, along with European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, and the prime minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, spoke of the debt owed to the founding fathers, and the importance of cooperation. “We – the humble heirs to these greats – are gathered once again in this very same room”, said Juncker.

“We do so to solemnly renew our vows and reaffirm our commitment to our undivided and indivisible union. But we do so not out of nostalgia. We do so because only by staying united can we rise to the challenges we can face together.

“Only by staying united can we pass on to future generations a more prosperous, a more social and a safer Europe.”

It wasn’t said, of course, but on Wednesday Theresa May – who did not come to Rome – will send in her letter informing the EU institutions of the UK’s intention to exit the European Union, after 44 years of membership.

There had been talk of the Polish prime minister, Beata Szydło – whose country bears a grudge against her compatriot, Tusk – causing a stir today. A “Rome declaration” affirming the 27’s allegiance had been reworded to acknowledge the concerns of east European states about a proposed “multi-speed Europe”, in which some states cooperate more intensely than others. Greece, still in a grinding argument with the EU institutions about austerity, had also kicked up a mini-storm by demanding the inclusion of promises that the union would be more than a mere economic bloc, but would prioritise workers’ rights.

But on the day, Szydło did no more than provide a comic pause, lifting her pen in the air, before duly signing the document. The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, appeared to offer a little shrug as he put pen to paper.

The truth, José Barroso, the former European commission president, told the Observer, is that the EU is far more resilient than those who would destroy it give credit. “It moves, of course, incrementally and very much responding to crisis,” Barroso said.

“One of the founding fathers, Monnet, said the European community would respond to successive crises. Crisis helps focus peoples minds and to bring solutions. In general terms the view in Britain and America is that nothing works. It works. It works sometimes in a frustrating way because it is muddling through, time consuming and incremental but at the end it works. You have to think counterfactually: what would happen if it was not for the European union? The level of polarisation and antagonism [would] be much worse and we would have a very dysfunctional Europe.”

On the margins of the summit, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, was asked about Brexit. “Some things are not for sale,” she told reporters, saying that Britain would not be granted any concessions which undermined the free movement of goods, people, services and capital within the European single market. Merkel added: “We are saying here very clearly that we want to go in a common direction.”</s>Rome: European Union leaders will renew their vows on the 60th anniversary of the troubled bloc's founding treaties at a special summit in Rome designed to show unity despite Britain's looming divorce.



Meeting in the same Renaissance-era palace where six founding countries signed the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957, the 27 leaders minus Britain will endorse a declaration of intent for the next decade. 



They will have the words of Pope Francis ringing in their ears, after he warned of the summit that the crisis-ridden bloc “risks dying” without a new vision. The White House also congratulated the EU overnight on its 60th birthday.</s>European Union (EU) leaders renewed their vows on the 60th anniversary of the bloc’s founding treaties at a special summit in Rome designed to show unity despite Britain’s looming split from the union.

Later, the 27 leaders, minus Britain, endorsed a declaration of intent for the next decade in the same Renaissance-era palace where six founding countries signed the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957.

The ceremonial gathering in Rome began with an audience with Pope Francis who gave messages of solidarity in the Vatican, as reported by The Guardian.

Between short videos documenting how the EU had salvaged Europe from a tragic history of bloodshed, Gentolini, along with European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, and the prime minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, spoke of the debt owed to the founding fathers, and the importance of cooperation.

“We do so to solemnly renew our vows and reaffirm our commitment to our undivided and indivisible union. But we do so not out of nostalgia. We do so because only by staying united can we rise to the challenges we can face together. Only by staying united can we pass on to future generations a more prosperous, a more social and a safer Europe,” Juncker said.

On the margins of the summit, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, was asked about Brexit.

“Some things are not for sale,” she told reporters, saying that Britain would not be granted any concessions which undermined the free movement of goods, people, services and capital within the European single market.

“We are saying here very clearly that we want to go in a common direction,” she added.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to trigger Article 50 of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty and begin the formal process of Britain leaving the bloc, exit the EU after 44 years of membership.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now</s>The European Union is celebrating its 60th anniversary in Rome

The heads of state and government of the EU countries are gathering in Rome to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome. The celebrations will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 25th, when the heads of state and government and the leaders of the EU institutions will arrive at the Palace of the Conservators, located on the Capitoline hill.

The ceremony will begin in the Hall of the Horatii and Curiatii at 10: the leaders will then sign the Declaration of Rome (around 11:30).

After the traditional “family photo” at noon, a press conference will be held: participants include Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (who is currently the acting president of the EU), European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and European Council President Donald Tusk.

The 13 heads of state and government and the leaders of the European institutions will then relocate to the Quirinal, where a luncheon will be held. The luncheon is being offered by Italian president Sergio Mattarella, in honor of the leaders participating in the celebration.

From Strasbourg, the European Parliament offered the following release:

Sixty years ago the leaders of the six founding member states gathered in Rome to put their signatures under the agreements that would create a European common market, but also pave the way for a union of peace and prosperity that has come to encompass most of our continent. Leading MEPs will join the anniversary celebrations in Rome this weekend, while heads of state and government will use the opportunity to deliberate on the next steps for the EU.

The Treaties of Rome were signed on 25 March 1957 by representatives of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In two separate agreements, they agreed to establish a European Economic Community aiming to remove barriers to trade, and to foster cooperation in the use of atomic energy.

Economic integration, based on the removal of customs duties among member states and the promotion of free movement of goods, services, capital and people, proved such a success that more and more countries in Europe expressed their wish to join in the following years. Areas of cooperation broadened over time and this led to the creation of the European Union. The treaty on establishing the European Economic Community went through several updates and is now known as the Treaty on the functioning of the EU.

Parliament President Antonio Tajani, leaders of political groups, vice-presidents and quaestors travel to Rome today to hold meetings and take part in the celebrations over the weekend. Tajani will sign a common EU declaration on the anniversary on behalf of Parliament.

In recent weeks MEPs have been actively discussing how the EU should evolve to respond to challenges such as migration, economic imbalances and Brexit. MEPs adopted three reports on the future of Europe during the February plenary. During March's plenary session MEPs also discussed a European Commission strategy paper setting out five scenarios for EU. The heads of state will continue the debate in Rome.

During a ceremony in Brussels earlier this week, Tajani said: “Europe is our freedom, Europe is our future and that is what we should hand on to our children; a future of prosperity, of peace and of freedom.”

Meanwhile from Washington the White House Office of the Press Secretary released a statement congratulating the European Union on the sixtieth anniversary of the 1957 Treaties of Rome and the founding of the European Economic Community.

Our two continents share the same values and, above all, the same commitment to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Together we look forward to another sixty years and more of shared security and shared prosperity, the statement said.</s>The Treaty of Rome was signed on 25 March, 1957, by the governments of Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

It created the European Economic Community and committed signatories to "ever closer union". It was a major step towards what would become the European Union (EU).

Part of the EEC was building a "common market" between participating countries which allowed for the free movement of goods, people, services and capital.

Before the Treaty of Rome, there was the Treaty of Paris in 1951, the treaty that established the European Coal and Steel Community. This had the same six signatories as Rome but only created a common market for coal and steel. Rome had much bigger ambitions.

The idea was to spur on economic growth and closer relations between interdependent European countries, cementing the peace of the post-war period and preventing a repeat of the devastating conflicts of the first half of the twentieth century.

Twice since 1957 has the treaty been updated and renamed, gradually developing and expanding the EEC into the EU. Originally, the Rome treaty's official title was the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community.

In 1993, a new treaty came into force, agreed at Maastricht the year before. This was called the Treaty Establishing the European Community and replaced Rome. In 2007, it became the Treaty Establishing the European Community, or the Lisbon Treaty.

In 1973, the original six EEC member states were joined by Denmark, Ireland and the UK. In 1981, Greece joined, followed in 1986 by Portugal and Spain. In 1995, after Maastricht paved the way for the creation of the euro and the single currency area, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined what was now the EU.

The EU expanded eastwards in 2004. Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary joined as well as Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta. In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined, and Croatia was the last in 2013.

There are also several candidate countries in the process of integrating EU legislation into their own national law. These are Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey.

In a first, one member state – Britain – is leaving the EU following a referendum on 23 June, 2016, in which the country voted for what is dubbed 'Brexit'. On 29 March, 2017, Theresa May will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which kickstarts the formal two-year process of negotiations to leave.</s>Leaders of the bloc gather in the Italian capital to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the EU's founding treaty.

European Union leaders are renewing their vows on the 60th anniversary of the troubled bloc's founding treaties at a special summit in Rome designed to show unity despite Britain's looming divorce.

 

Meeting on Saturday in the same Renaissance-era palace where six founding countries signed the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957, the 27 leaders minus Britain will endorse a declaration of intent for the next decade.

 

The ceremonial gathering in Rome began with an audience with Pope Francis who gave messages of solidarity in the Vatican on Friday evening.

"You are called on to blaze the path of a new European humanism," Francis told the leaders.

"When a body loses its sense of direction and is no longer able to look ahead, it experiences a regression and, in the long run, risks dying," he said.

The White House congratulated the EU overnight 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.

 

However, British Prime Minister Theresa May's absence from the summit, four days before she launches the two-year Brexit process, and a row over the wording of the Rome declaration underscore the challenges the EU faces.

Security is tight with snipers on rooftops, drones in the skies and 3,000 police officers on the streets as Italy takes no risks following an attack this week in London claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

Around 30,000 protesters are expected to take part in four separate marches - both pro- and anti-Europe - throughout the day in the Italian capital. Police plan to stop all traffic and declare a no-fly zone.

 

The Rome Declaration that the leaders will sign proclaims that "Europe is our common future", according to a copy obtained by the AFP news agency, after a series of crises that have shaken its foundations.

RELATED: How will Brexit affect the European Union?

Mass migration, the eurozone debt crisis, attacks by armed groups and the rise of populist parties have left a bloc formed from the ashes of World War II searching for new answers.

Yet the leaders are deeply divided over the way forward almost before they have started.

 

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo only agreed to sign the declaration at the last minute, after bitterly opposing a reference to a "multi-speed" Europe favoured by powerhouse states France and Germany, AFP said.

 

Poland, central Europe's largest economy, is concerned that as one of nine of the EU's current 28 members outside the eurozone, it could be left behind should countries sharing the single currency push ahead with integration.

 

Greece, the loudest voice against the austerity policies wrought by its three eurozone bailouts, meanwhile insisted that the document should mention social policies.
European Union leaders gather in Rome to mark 60 years since the Treaty of Rome was signed.