Europe at a Crossroads: International Conference in Rome

In cooperation with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Paneuropa Italia hosted an international conference on 11 June 2026 at the Representative Office of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Rome on the theme Europe at a Crossroads.

The meeting was divided into two panels, combining geopolitical debate with historical reflection and documentation. The conference sought to reaffirm that Europe is, first and foremost, a community of shared destiny and values.

The first panel, entitled Europe at a Crossroads between Old and New Nationalisms, between Integration and Disintegration, examined the centrifugal forces undermining European cohesion and analysed the risks of a return to a logic of conflict among nation states.

The conference was opened by the President of Paneuropa Italia, Gianna Di Danieli, and chaired by Vice-President Marcello Fracanzani. Among the speakers were Prof. Giulio M. Chiodi, former Full Professor of Philosophy of Law and Political Philosophy, and Prof. Gianluca Tracuzzi, Full Professor of Philosophy of Law at the Free Mediterranean University of Casamassima (Bari). The conference programme is attached.

In his concluding address, the President of the International Pan-European Union, Pavo Barišić, emphasised "the importance of the principle of subsidiarity for the future development of European unity. Europe's richness lies in its diversity. Local traditions, identities and freedoms must not be overridden by decisions taken far from the communities they affect. European unity does not mean uniformity. What has been shaped over centuries deserves to be respected, preserved and allowed to flourish in its uniqueness."

He continued: "If Europe is to remain a just and democratic community of nations, cultures and regions, it must be built on cooperation in freedom, not on centralisation and bureaucratic imposition. The principle of subsidiarity remains essential: what can be decided locally should not be transferred unnecessarily to higher levels." At the same time, he stressed that, while safeguarding cultural diversity, Europe must deepen its solidarity and political cohesion: "There are, of course, areas in which greater unity is urgently required. Security and foreign policy are foremost among them. These challenges increasingly transcend the capacities of individual states and demand coordinated European action."

The evening session featured the presentation of Davide Fini's book The Pan-European Union: The Origin of the European Union (1918–1945). The work traces the emergence of the idea of a united Europe founded on the defence of Western civilisation against the totalitarian ideologies of the twentieth century.

Presenting Davide Fini's work, Marcello Fracanzani, Councillor at the Supreme Court of Cassation, emphasised the importance of rediscovering the origins of the Pan-European Union—a project conceived in the aftermath of the First World War to secure lasting peace in Europe. He concluded that the only viable path today is that of a stronger European Union, capable of overcoming the growing pressures of disintegration in the spirit of the Pan-European ideal of peace and unity.

Programme (EN) (PDF)