Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met at government headquarters in Rome to discuss the burning topics of migration, the war in Ukraine and the national recovery plan.
Meloni and von der Leyen met for the second time on Monday after first meeting in Brussels in November as part of her first foreign visit as prime minister.
The meeting was “an excellent opportunity for an exchange of views in preparation for the extraordinary European Council of 9-10 February dedicated, in particular, to the economy and migration,” a note from the government’s headquarters, Palazzo Chigi, reads.
Topics including the thorny migration dossier, the national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP), the RePowerEU programme and the war in Ukraine were all on the table.
The meeting, which lasted about an hour and a quarter, was attended by Italy’s European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto, who is also in charge of the country’s recovery and resilience plan and cohesion policies.
The government reaffirmed its commitment to the recovery and resilience plan, according to a government note released at the end of the meeting.
Meloni has long been calling for the recovery plan to be revised to better reflect inflation as well as the energy crisis that the war in Ukraine has aggravated.
The two leaders also took the opportunity to express solidarity with the Brazilian government and condemned supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro for having violently ransacked the country’s institutions as part of a failed attempt to overthrow the government of newly elected President Luiz Lula.
The signing of the EU-NATO Joint Declaration is scheduled to take place on Tuesday in Brussels, an achievement for which both leaders have expressed satisfaction.
In a Twitter post, von der Leyen wrote that she had discussed with Meloni how to “continue to support Ukraine, ensure safe and affordable energy, promote the competitiveness of EU industry, make progress on the migration pact” and how to implement the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in Italy.
Prior to meeting Meloni, von der Leyen attended the presentation of a book of condolences in memory of the late European Parliament President David Sassoli.
(Federica Pascale | EURACTIV.it)
Source: euractiv.com
