On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, the Embassy of Italy, the European Commission Representation in Malta and the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee have inaugurated an exhibition titled Ever Closer Union – The Legacy of the Treaties of Rome for Today’s Europe at the Italian Cultural Institute in Valletta.

The treaties were an international agreement that brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). They were signed on March 25, 1957, by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany and came into force on January 1,1958.

The exhibition is based on archival documents and images from the historical archives of the European Union at the European University Institute of Florence, which curated the exhibition in collaboration with the Diplomatic Historical Archives of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Archives of Ansa Agency.

Supervised by the Scientific Committee under the direction of Federico Romero (European University Institute) and Antonio Varsori (University of Padua), the exhibition is structured in four sections and 14 panels and composed of reproduced documents, pictures and educational captions.

It is held under the patronage of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Department for European Policies – Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy and of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

■ The exhibition is open for viewing at the Italian Cultural Institute in Valletta until April 20. Opening hours: Monday to Wednesday, 9am to 5pm, on Thursdays from 9am to 7pm and on Fridays from 9am to 2pm.