António Costa has proposed moving the European Council of 18–19 March 2027 from Brussels to Rome. A European official announced it on Wednesday, 21 October, as reported by AFP. The reason: 70 years since the Treaty of Rome, signed in 1957. This is a proposal for a summit venue, not a move of the EU capital.

The 1957 treaty established the European Economic Community among the Six: Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Costa chairs the institution of the 27 heads of state and government. The headline “the EU wants to move to Rome” says more than the official said: this is not about seats, it is about one meeting.

The initiative needs a unanimous green light from the 27 member states. Without it, the summit stays in Brussels. European Council rules, in principle, require two formal meetings in Brussels each six months; a relocation is an exception and can be blocked by a single state.

The Italian government welcomed, according to sources cited by LaPresse on 19 October, the idea of a European Council in Rome. Preparations are under way, an EU official told Politico. No final decision was announced on Wednesday. In 2017, at 60 years, leaders met in Rome for a commemoration; the formal summit stayed in Brussels.

The date on the Brussels calendar remains 18–19 March 2027, unless the 27 agree otherwise. This is not a move of the institutions and not the opening of a palace.

Until the green light, Rome is an intention. A summit proposal, not a relocated capital.

Image: Joseolgon, Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, 21 August 2024, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; the site of the Treaty of Rome, not a photograph of the 21 October 2026 announcement.

Sources consulted: The EU wants to go to Rome to mark 70 years of the Treaty of Rome - News.ro / AFP; Meeting in Rome? The EU wants to relocate for the 70th anniversary of a treaty - AFP via Courrier International, 21 October 2026.