EU March summit could be held in Rome as a one-off to mark the Treaties’ 70th anniversary

Brussels – The next formal summit of European leaders, scheduled for March, could take place in Rome. Belgium has agreed to step down as host (as it does for all other summits), said a source familiar with the matter on Thursday, according to the Belga news agency. The date is 25 March, which marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome.

Italian sources confirm that the official celebrations will take place in Rome next March. Still, as regards the programme and whether a summit of the 27 member states will be hosted there, everything is still to be decided.

Reportedly, the President of the European Council, António Costa, proposed the idea during his meeting with the Belgian Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, as part of a tour of European capitals he undertook in early autumn. Belgian government sources have confirmed that the request was approved.

Under the rules of the European Council, Heads of State or Government are required to meet in Brussels twice a semester for formal summits. The President may decide to hold one summit elsewhere only in exceptional cases and with the agreement of the 27 ministers for European Affairs. The decision requires unanimity, which guarantees each country a right of veto. Belgium will not exercise its veto right, the sources assured. 

On 25 March 1957, two treaties were signed in Rome which laid the foundations for today’s Union: the treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), creating a single market between Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, and one establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) among the same six countries.