Event report

1. Structure of the event The Directorate-General for External Relations and the Balearic Centre Europe, through the Europe Direct Illes Balears Information Centre, have organised a day of theatrical interpretation and colloquium on the future of Europe in Eivissa. This day, open to all kinds of audiences, began with the theatrical adaptation of George Steiner’s The Idea of Europe played by ▷scar Intente and Ferran Martínez. The idea of Europe is the title of a lecture given by the French humanist George Steiner in 2004 in which the author toured the characteristics of European culture. Next, on the same stage, a symposium on the future of Europe moderated by the journalist, Elena Gregori, correspondent for IB3 TV on the island, in which the Director of Foreign Relations of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Antoni Vicens, and the director of the Historical Archive of Eivissa and Formentera, Fanny Tur, participated. Finally, participation has been opened to the audience. 2. Objectives 1. To highlight the need for a real and effective application of Article 174 TFEU for island territories as developed by Article 349 TFEU for the outermost regions. 2. Encourage the participation of citizens and promote the Conference on the Future of Europe among all populations, especially among young people. 3. Create a space for reflection on the fact of being European, on the differences and multiculturalism and on the Europe that will be needed in the future. 4. Make clear the situation of double periphery (island and Mediterranean) suffered by the islands of the Mediterranean basin. 5. Point out that the Mediterranean basin is a very fragile, vulnerable and uncoordinated area. 3. Conclusions The general conclusion of all the contributions made during the day is the urgent need to develop Article 174 TFEU for island territories that have declined by basin, as developed by Article 349 TFEU for the outermost regions. On the other hand, the following reflections have also been made: • Diversity must be guaranteed, the European Union is a community of values, outside this pluralistic mental framework there can be nothing. Diversity should not be seen as a threat but as an added value. • The European Union must be the beacon of environmental policies. The climate emergency will have a much greater impact on the Mediterranean islands than in other territories, and the EU needs to take this into account and put in place compensatory mechanisms. • In this new construction of Europe the EU must consolidate itself as the voice of the peoples and not just that of the states. • More cohesion and neighbourhood policy with the southern Mediterranean basin • The well-being of Europe and its citizens cannot be achieved at the expense of the sacrifice of other peoples. Immigration must not pose a threat. • All citizens need to rethink the future because the islands will experience an environmental, social and human drama and that is why now is the time to question the model that has caused this limit situation.