Conferment of the 'Honoris Causa' degree on the President of Malta by the Seconda Universita' degli studi di Napoli

An "honoris causa" degree in law will be conferred on HE Prof. Guido de Marco, President of Malta, on Monday 22^nd November by the Seconda Universita' degli Studi di Napoli.

The ceremony will take place at the Palazzo Reale of Caserta during the inauguration of the 1999/2000 academic year of the Jean Monnet Academy of Law and Economics of the European Communities.

The President will make an oration entitled Valorizzando il Mediterraneo – Le relazioni tra l'Unione Europea e gli Stati del Mediterraneo: situazione attuale e prospettive future (Valuing the Mediterranean – relations between the European Union and Mediterranean States: current situation and future prospects). In his oration, the President will speak about the developments in the Mediterranean during the last 50 years with particular reference to international Mediterranean initiatives. He will also discuss the setting up of a Council for the Mediterranean, a concept which the President had first elaborated in Algiers in 1990 when Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The President, accompanied by Mrs de Marco, leaves Malta on Sunday morning for Rome and will immediately proceed to Caserta where he will visit the Jean Monnet Academy at San Leucio, which forms part of the Seconda Universita' di Napoli. The school offers post-graduate courses specialising in EU law and economics and has held seminars by distinguished speakers such as Viktor Uckmar, Michele Scudiero, Maurice Amato Filho, Jose' Andres Rozas Valdes and Mike Manin. The President will also be made honorary citizen of Caserta.

The President returns to Malta on Monday to receive the Budget Publication Speech from Finance Minister John Dalli. He will return to Rome to preside over the inauguration of Link Campus University of Malta on Tuesday evening, at the invitation of the Rector of the University of Malta Roger Ellul Micallef and the Link University Association. Link Campus is an international university affiliated with the University of Malta. Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga will deliver the prolusion Fra democrazia e totalitarismi: la lezione di un secolo difficile (Between democracy and totalitarianisms: the lesson of a difficult century) and the President will deliver the closing address.

Dr George Hyzler will be Acting President.