The members of the “Hospitality Europe aisbl” Association, through which the office of the Order and the Sisters Hospitallers work with the EU institutions in Brussels, have been meeting in Rome for their first General Meeting of 2019.

The new General Councillors of the Order, Brother Joaquim Erra Mas and Brother José Augusto Gaspar Louro, and the Superior of the Spanish Province of the Sisters Hospitallers, Sr. Matilde Porras González, have now joined the association.

The meeting elected the new President of the Association, Brother Joaquim Erra, who thanked them for their confidence and for his mandate, with Sr Maria Begoña Perez as Vice President. Dr Galasso then illustrated the current position of the main European projects being implemented in the Provinces of the two Congregations, and the new financing applications recently submitted in response to the calls from the European Commission.

The members also dealt with the sensitive issue of “Brexit” and the repercussions that this might have on the work of the centres and services in the United Kingdom.

The meeting also decided to organise only one meeting with the Reference Persons in 2019 following the installation of the new European Parliament.

A second general meeting will be held in the autumn in Rome, while in 2020 the members will convene in Brussels to gain a better first-hand understanding of the work of the office and the European Institutions.