On Friday 11 April 2008, at exactly 11.30am, the sailboat Treaty of Rome left its base at the Brussels Royal Yacht Club (BRYC), hoisting the colours of the European Union as it sails to some 20 ports in the 27 Member States, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Europe's main institutions.
In the presence of Mr Charles Piquι, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, Mr Luc Van den Brande, President of the Committee of the Regions, Mr Xavier Verboven, Bureau Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, the Commodore of the BRYC and their many supporters, skipper Philippe Hanin and his crew will set out on a long journey taking them to the Baltic, the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.
Many still remember the exploits of this 51-foot sloop, a former winner of the Admiral’s Cup. Flying the EUR 1 flag with its first European crew, it placed third in the Whitbread Round the World Race ‘77-78.
On the initiative of the Sail for Europe association, and with the support of distinguished European figures of the time (Claude Cheysson, Lιo Tindemans, Jean-Franηois Deniau), the Treaty of Rome went on to tour the main European ports (London, Dublin, Bonn, Copenhagen, The Hague/Scheveningen) reaching Athens on the day that negotiations for the accession of Greece to the European Communities were concluded.
Sail for Europe has the ambition of bringing Europe's citizens closer to the European integration process. The idea is to go out and meet them with this sailboat, a symbol of the European team spirit, the continent's great discoveries, the bold undertakings of our industrialists and the imperative of respect for the environment. The association's organisers discovered the Treaty of Rome two years ago and decided to renovate it for the 50th anniversary of the signature of the Union's founding treaties.
On 23 March 2007, the boat was brought to Brussels, displayed before the seat of the EU Council and its new adventure welcomed by Mr Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Council and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Four weeks later, the sailboat was put back in the water under the auspices of Mr Charles Piquι, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the authorities of the Port of Brussels.
Thanks to the valuable financial and logistical support of a number of private enterprises and a few bold institutions, including the EU Council, European Economic and Social Committee, Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPRM), European Confederation of Nautical Industries (ECNI), Brussels-Capital Region, Port of Brussels, the Treaty of Rome is at sea again.
The sailboat will sail via Antwerp to Kiel, Gdansk, Rotterdam and on 25 May, in Scheveningen for the 60th anniversary of the European Movement. After Ostend on 1 June, it will be back in Brussels to participate in the festivities organised by the Port of Brussels and its presence will lend prestige to the departure of the Sailing Tour de France in Dunkirk.
It will then sail on to London and Cowes, reaching Brest on 10 July. In July, its ports of call will include La Rochelle and others, and in August, Oporto, Lisbon, Cartagena, Valletta. On 5 September, it will reach Thessaloniki, before heading back across the Mediterranean to Rome (September), Castellσn de la Plana (October) and Marseilles. From 21 December, the sailboat will be on display at the Paris Nautical Exhibition, as part of a joint operation with the European Confederation of Nautical Industries.
