France and Italy will enhance their cooperation looking forward, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday, marking a thaw in relations.
The two leaders met to highlight the points of convergence despite the “controversies” that may have existed between their governments.
“Based on today’s dialogue, we will be able to work even more and even better together”, declared Meloni in a joint declaration to the press before the face-to-face meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
For his part, Macron described the dialogue as “frank, ambitious and demanding”.
Macron, however, spoke of “the unique relationship that exists between Italy and France”, a “friendship […] that allows controversy to flourish, but always within a respectful framework”.
Immigration, Ukraine, industry, economy
The two affirmed the need to continue their “economic, humanitarian and military” support for Ukraine. They also praised the “excellent cooperation” on defence, announcing that the SAMP/T ground-air defence system – designed by France and Italy – was now “deployed and operational” on the ground.
On the subject of immigration, the most tense issue between the two countries, Macron said that “coordination and work between our two countries must continue” in order “to be able to organise asylum and immigration in Europe more effectively”.
During their meeting, the two spoke of the need to “share responsibility by securing borders and showing solidarity within the EU” – principles that must apply to all member states, the French Presidency said.
As for Tunisia, where “the situation risks degenerating”, according to Meloni, the two countries have a “shared vision” for stabilising the country while awaiting a European and international response – particularly from the IMF.
Without mentioning the recent controversies with France, Meloni called for dialogue with North African countries to offer “alternatives to encourage legal migration and dismantle the networks of traffickers.”
Meloni emphasised the “need” for France and Italy to engage in dialogue before stressing the areas in which the two countries share a vision. In addition to Ukraine and defence issues, the prime minister cited the need to re-industrialise the European continent.
The EU must also face up to a “dual digital and climate transition” to achieve “full strategic autonomy”. However, to be successful, this process “cannot ignore social and economic sustainability”, argued Meloni.
‘Creating convergences’
After the meeting, the Élysée Palace said the discussion between the two leaders “enabled convergences to be created on subjects of common interest”.
Among other subjects, Macron and Meloni agreed to support “renewed economic governance” and the sovereign wealth fund proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday.
As for energy, the leaders reaffirmed the need for a “neutral approach”, meaning that “energy should be decarbonised” regardless of its origin, nuclear or otherwise, according to the Élysée Palace.
The Élysée considers that the discussions enabled “common ambitions to be demonstrated”, in a “very pragmatic way, in a difficult context”.
(Davide Basso | EURACTIV.fr)
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