Treaty of Rome - 50th Anniversary celebrations in Inverness

With the European Union (EU) this month marking its 50th anniversary with Europe-wide celebrations, events will take place in Inverness to mark the occasion.

Europe Direct Highlands and Islands (EDHI) is being launched at the event which will also promote other EU info providers in the area.  EDHI is part of an official European Commission network of information relays, with more than 400 Europe Direct centres spread throughout the European Union.

Stands from official European Commission relays will be placed at the Eastgate Centre, Inverness, opposite Waterstones Bookshop on Thursday 29 March from 11:30am to 2:30pm.

EDHI is hosted by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and has the role of improving the flow of European information to people in one of Europe's most peripheral regions.  Information will be available on working, travelling and studying in EU countries, how the EU works, how EU decisions affect the UK and funding opportunities for organisations and businesses. 

A stand from the Euro Info Centre (EIC) will provide information on the services it offers to small and medium-sized enterprises on a wide variety of European Business and international market issues.

The Information Relay Centre (IRC) will also have a stand to promote the services they can offer relating to latest innovation in the market place and finding potential partners.

Free information such as publications, brochures and guides on all aspects of the EU can be accessed at each stand.  In addition, representatives from the European Commission office in Scotland and the Romanian Community (Robert Gordon University) will be present to answer questions from members of the public.

Later, on the same afternoon, there will be a reception at the Town House in Inverness for invited people, where Neil Mitchison, head of the EC Office in Scotland will make a short speech followed by a buffet of Eastern European cuisine.

Neil Mitchison, head of the European Commission office in Scotland, said: "This week, the original founders of the European Union celebrate 50 years together. In the course of these 50 years, the European Union has built an area in which citizens of all the countries concerned can enjoy important freedoms: they can move freely for work or pleasure, trade and exercise their professions. But to use these freedoms effectively, citizens need information, and the EU information providers, such as this new Europe Direct Centre, are an essential element in empowering the citizen to use his European freedoms. We are delighted to welcome the two latest entrants into this space of freedom: Bulgaria and Romania."

Dominic Brett, head of Outreach for the United Kingdom will also be in Inverness on Thursday.

The 1957 Treaty of Rome - signed by France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - established the European Economic Community.

Along with the Paris and Euratom treaties it is one of the foundation stones of the European Community.  Often referred to simply as the Treaty, it has been amended several times to take account of new member states joining the EEC.