Palma (Italy), 17/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - It was with a call for optimism and determination that Viscount Etienne Davignon officially inaugurated the academic year 2004/05 of the European College of Palma (promotion of Paul-Henri Spaak). "European integration is fundamentally an optimistic project, which refuses fatalism. It consists of deciding together what will be the future. The shortcoming of Europeans is often the absence of confidence in themselves, the tendency to fear company difficulties instead of valuing their benefits. We shouldn't be afraid of speaking about our values and our results: peace, stability (more difficult than we believe) and the European model of society in which the essential factors are social justice and solidarity; the latter was unknown in diplomacy before or in the legal organisation of countries. The objective is not a single state but shared sovereignty, which presupposes institutions for managing them".
Antoinette Spaak spoke with emotion at what her father had been able to achieve with the other "founding fathers of Europe" and expressed her confidence in the new Europeans continuing this work.
The European College of Palma provides a specialist training in European issues for young people having completed university studies and who come from European countries or outside. Courses are given in English, French and Italian. Teaching staff for the new academic year include Pascal Lamy, Mario Monti, Ana Palacio, Paolo Mengozzi (judge at the EU Court of First Instance), François Lamoureux, Alfonso Mattera, Jean-Paul Jacqué, Stefano Manservisi, etc.