| Europe Day 2023 will be celebrated over three days in Malta, with events taking place in Freedom Square Valletta on 9 May, and the University of Malta on Tuesday 9 May, Wednesday 10 May and Friday 12 May with the launch of the European Bench initiative. |
| Europe Day 2023 kicks off in Freedom Square Valletta at 9.00 a.m. on Tuesday 9 May with the Europe Day Expo open to the public.
This features stands by the European Parliament Office in Malta, FONDI.eu, the European Commission Representation, Servizzi Ewropej Malta and Europe Direct Valletta, as well as the EU Asylum Agency, EU Careers, European Employment Services (EURES), SOLVIT Malta, European Consumers Centre, Entitlement Unit (MFH), EUPA (Europass), and MyScholarships. The EP Office will give freebies to people who take a photo with the European flag and upload it on their social media. From 9.15 to 9.45 a.m. the Europe Day Press Conference, also in Freedom Square, will be addressed by EU Funds Parliamentary Secretary Chris Bonett, the Head of the European Parliament Office in Malta Mario Sammut, the head of communications of the European Commission Representation Mark Vella, and the new head of Servizzi Ewropej Malta Denise Fiorentino. The Europe Day quiz competition will be on from 10.30 to 12.00 on centre stage. Participating this year will be teams from the Gozo, Mosta, Handaq and Pembroke Secondary Schools, St Augustine’s and St Martin’s Colleges, St Joseph School, and St Dorothy’s Senior School. These schools take part in the European Parliament’s European Ambassador Schools programme in Malta. The Malta Visual and Performing Arts School will provide the music on centre stage, opening events at 9.00 and closing at 13.00 the Europe Day celebration in Valletta. At the University of Malta Campus in Msida there will be an all-day programme on 9 May supported by the European Parliament Office in Malta. JEF, the Young European Federalists, and ESO, the European Studies Organisation, will be hosting a European Village including their traditional European Food Fair. This year there will also be a Wall of Thoughts, where students will be encouraged to write their thoughts on Europe and what they like and dislike about it, and what their hopes for the EU are. JEF and ESO further plan to hold Vox Pops on the same questions throughout the week. On 10 May, the Head of the EP Office in Malta Mario Sammut will participate in the debate What European Political Community does Europe need nowadays? This is organised by JEF and ESO and is taking place at the UoM’s Lecture Theatre 2 between 12.00 and 14.00. On 12 May, the European Bench initiative will be launched by JEF Malta together with the European Parliament Office in Malta at the University of Malta Campus in Msida. This campaign started in Italy after an EU-flagged bench in Lecco was vandalised with Nazi symbols, prompting a public response that raised funds not only to fix this bench, but to set up another 50 benches around Italy. This initiative is now coming to Malta with the inauguration of the first bench in the Humanities area of the UoM’s Msida campus, and more to follow. More information on this will be communicated closer to the date. |
