The conference’s fifth edition brought together leading academics, policy-makers, civil society representatives, business and opinion leaders to discuss four main topics, all confronting the future of Europe. These were the establishment of the Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre, Europe's place in the world, a new Schuman Declaration for the 21st century and the impact of surveillance in Europe.

The 2014 conference saw Matteo Renzi return as prime minister to join us in discussing the social and political model for Europe and the European Elections. The event also included a historically unpredicted live televised debate between candidates seeking the presidency of the European Commission.

The 2013 edition of the State of the Union analysed the topics of “Institutions and Democratic Governance” and “Migration and Citizenship” through parallel discussions coordinated by EUI academics and keynote lectures by high-level international speakers, including President Rosen Plevneliev, José Manuel Barroso and Mario Monti .

At the second conference we were joined by Mario Monti, Matteo Renzi and José Manuel Barroso to discuss on the first day the challenges of globalisation and economic governance, addressing questions regarding the European sovereign debt crisis, and on the second day the EU energy policy.

Our first State of the Union conference welcomed to Florence political personalities, representatives from community institutions and national governments to explore the Lisbon Treaty, the implications of globalisation and financial stability in the midst of the Eurozone crisis, all as part of the Festival d'Europa.