EUROPE’S POLITICAL SEASON RESTARTS FROM IGEA MARINA

BELLARIA-IGEA MARINA, 21 August – From 28 to 30 August, Bellaria-Igea Marina will host the Summer Academy of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party, entitled “The Strength of Conservative Values for a Renewed Europe”: three days of discussion on the continent’s main political, economic and social challenges.

The programme will bring together Italian and European political representatives, local and regional officials, representatives of the business and industrial sectors, and experts from several countries. Participants will include Patryk Jaki, Co-Chair of the ECR Group in the European Parliament; Emanuele Prisco, Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of the Interior; and Galeazzo Bignami, President of the Brothers of Italy parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies.

The discussions will focus on some of Europe’s main challenges, ranging from industrial competitiveness and immigration to cultural identity and technological innovation.

One of the highlights of the three-day programme will be a dialogue between Tommaso Foti, Minister for European Affairs, and Mario Mantovani, Member of the European Parliament, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs and promoter of the initiative.

“We wanted to bring to Igea Marina a concrete discussion on the challenges that are transforming Europe,” Mantovani said.

The event will conclude with the interview “Europe: Where To?”, featuring Carlo Fidanza, Head of the Brothers of Italy delegation in the European Parliament and Acting President of the ECR Party, and Stefano Bonaccini, Member of the European Parliament and President of the Democratic Party.

“From Igea Marina, we are launching the 2026–2027 political season by immediately placing the major issues concerning Europe’s future at the centre of the debate,” said Antonio Giordano, Secretary General of the ECR Party.

“We want to start from local communities while maintaining a fully European perspective. What happened in Ceuta demonstrates once again that immigration, border security and relations with third countries are not theoretical questions, but challenges to which Europe must provide concrete answers. Alongside these are competitiveness, identity and innovation: crucial issues in determining what kind of Europe we want to build,” said Carlo Fidanza, Acting President of the ECR Party.

“Igea Marina will be the first event in a busy international calendar, which will continue with the third European Congress on the Family in Dubrovnik from 11 to 13 September, followed by the European Defence Forum in Lithuania from 23 to 25 October,” Giordano concluded.