Libya, the international conference with Draghi, Merkel and Macron in Paris
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November 26, 2021 The signing of the "Treaty for enhanced bilateral cooperation" between Italy and France is expected today, aimed at improving cooperation between the two countries and helping to build a stronger Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron met Mattarella and Draghi yesterday to define the terms of the agreement. Among the hypotheses, that of the participation of one or more ministers of one of the two countries in the government meetings of the other, as is already the case between France and Germany.
Mattarella: "Italy and France invest in a common future"
"The strengthened cooperation between Italy and France must have the objective of bringing the necessary ambition within the EU. The European dimension is the key element in a phase in which we are called to overcome the crisis linked to the pandemic and to restart with renewed impetus to successfully face the great challenges of the ecological and digital transition. The many measures envisaged to strengthen dialogue and cooperation and stimulate common initiatives are an investment in the common future of Italy and France ". This was underlined by President Sergio Mattarella when
meeting the French President Emmanuel Macron at the quirinale.
After Mattarella, Draghi receives Macron
After the interview with President Mattarella, Macron moved to Palazzo Chigi for the meeting with Draghi.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to Palazzo Chigi. Palazzo Chigi explains that the treaty that will be signed tomorrow is aimed at strengthening the bilateral relationship between Rome and Paris, through a dialogue between the administrations, periodic consultations and the identification of a common agenda with major shared themes and priorities. Among the shared themes are the strengthening of the European Union, the common commitment in the Mediterranean and in Africa, digital and environmental transitions, security, culture and education, economic and industrial cooperation, cooperation in the field space, relations between the respective civil societies and
cross-border cooperation.
After the Draghi-Macron bilateral, dinner at the Quirinale
The bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron at Palazzo Chigi ended after more than two hours. The meeting took place in two phases, one face to face of the two leaders of about an hour and the bilateral extended to the ministers. Dragons and Macron were later transferred
to the Quirinale Palace for a dinner hosted by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.
The Treaty of Quirinale
The basis of the Quirinal Treaty "is solid, robust, now Italy and France must show the political will to give it substance and apply it". On the eve of the signing of the document in 12 chapters plus a 'feuille de route', a roadmap with a list of operational initiatives, the bilateral treaty of enhanced cooperation will frame future relations between Rome and Paris. The goal, among others, is to create dialogue mechanisms to avoid or contain possible misunderstandings or misunderstandings in the bud, mindful of the tensions of the recent past, which resulted in the diplomatic crisis of 2018.
The negotiations, which only got underway this year, after the slowdown due first to the tensions between the two countries and then to the pandemic, "ran aground" in recent months on some points, informed sources say, but, given the will policy to proceed, it was possible to find "adequate formulas acceptable to both".
Thus for example on the political commitment of Rome and Paris to support each other in order to enter the formats from which one of the two countries is excluded, or on the theme of European sovereignty, with the addition of the term "democratic" to give a connotation "less Gaullist "to the wording. And a lot of work has been done to underline how the Sahel and the Mediterranean are of equal priority for both countries. The sources admit that the text is instead "weak on the industrial side", after all Italy and France are "competitors and their respective divergent national interests". Better the part on the need to pool European resources for innovation and technological development.
In any case, the Elysée stressed, in a reference to what appeared in our press in recent days, "it is absolutely false that the treaty aims to strengthen France's predatory attitude on the Italian economy". Rather "complementarity successes" have been listed, represented by the examples Stellantis and Stmicroelectronics.
As for the comparison with the 1963 Elysée Treaty between France and Germany and the updated Aachen Treaty of 2019, the differences by Rome and Paris are deliberately underlined. "It is useless to pursue history", says an Italian source, referring to the Franco-German agreement, rather urging "to put in place" a Treaty also between Rome and Berlin. Which, as pointed out by ISPI president Giampiero Massolo, would complete that Italy-France-Germany triangle on which to build a "stronger" European Union.
Tomorrow's signature of the Treaty, "an absolute first for Italy, which has rediscovered ambition and initiative in Europe", commented again by the Elysée, can also be read as "a victory over Italian nationalists who have a Risorgimento vision of the relationship with France ", comments Jean Pierre Darnis, professor of Franco-Italian relations at the Cote d'Azur University of Nice and of contemporary history at Luiss. "Given the premises - he says in a reference to the 'brakes' put in during the work on the text by various 'anti-French' circles - one could fear that it was only a symbolic document. And instead it is an ambitious text, it defines a road map. on various French and Italian sectoral policies ".
It is a "historic" treaty, echoes Sandro Gozi, MEP of Renew Europe, which is being signed in a phase in which "the interests of the two countries have never been so convergent". And that will make the difference in relations between Rome and Paris, but also in Europe. Launched at the bilateral summit in September 2017, while the Libyan and Stx-Fincantieri dossiers stirred relations between the two countries, the Treaty aims to strengthen cooperation in the field of foreign policy, European affairs, defense and security. the creation of a Franco-Italian Youth Council, an economic ministerial forum,a cross-border cooperation committee as well as mobility programs for artists and the Franco-Italian civic service already announced during Mattarella's state visit to Paris in July.