Welcome from Hans-Peter Repnik, President of PRO EUROPE and Host of the Congress

I am very happy to welcome you to the 2nd International PRO EUROPE Congress in Berlin. I would particularly like to extend a warm welcome to the participants of the 1st European Youth Eco-Parliament. With this unique convention, young people from all over Europe are demonstrating that collectively, they are conscious of their responsibility to the environment. In this way, they are endowing the concept of Europe with life and hope.

In Berlin, we would like to continue the process that we successfully began three years ago in Spain. Approximately 600 delegates from many different countries travelled to Madrid in 2001 for an initial exchange of ideas, opinions and experiences on an international level, and they made it very clear that the need for such a forum is considerable.

Berlin has not been selected by chance as the venue to host this Congress. The capital of Germany is at the very heart of a new and peaceful Europe. Its fate as a city, once divided and today re-united, reflects the European process of integration. This year's expansion of the European Union is a further milestone along the path to a unified Europe. PRO EUROPE has a great responsibility as part of this unified Europe - the majority of the new EU members have become part of our organization, recognizing as they do that the recycling of packaging materials is an integral and indispensable instrument of tried and tested environmental protection.

My special thanks go to that great statesman and European, Vaclav Havel, who has graciously accepted the patronage of this Congress. Both in politics and through his intellectual work, he has contributed considerably to the reconciliation within Europe as well as promoting a greater understanding among nations. Vaclav Havel's work for the peaceful coexistence amongst European nations and for the preservation of the environment makes him an excellent role model and advocate for our Congress.

I am confident that our Congress will very much promote the exchange of experiences on an international level. The objective is to familiarize our respective societies with the benefits of packaging recycling and to show that sustainability is a social issue affecting all our lives. If we can provide an impulse to this area, our work has been worth it.

The Congress is convening at a historic site of research and learning. A total of 29 winners of the Nobel Prize, from Albert Einstein to Max Planck, have found their inspiration at Berlin's prestigious Humboldt-University whilst preparing to pass on the benefit of their knowledge and skills to young people. This, then, is the ideal location at which to enter into a dialogue with the younger generation in discussing appropriate ways of dealing with nature and the environment. The European Youth Eco-Parliament shows that young Europeans are aware of their responsibility to future generations - their involvement in this project is their covenant to building a bridge to the future.

Please use the opportunity presented by your attendance at the Congress in Berlin to get to know one another on a deeper plane. Here at the very centre of an expanded new Europe and in these august surroundings, use your time wisely to discuss a future in which the environment is respected, but do not overlook the particular relevance of the subject of recycling packaging materials, the raison d'etre for the Congress. In so doing, we will be remaining true to the motto of PRO EUROPE: Unity in Diversity.

I am very pleased to welcome you to Berlin.