Foreign Minister Emma Bonino met today with President of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the French National Assembly Elisabeth Guigou. Their discussions concerned international and European current events.
Ahead of the June European Council, Minister Bonino and Elisabeth Guigou reviewed, first and foremost, the need to effectively link economic recovery with growth, fully agreeing on the importance of decisively promoting measures capable of having an immediate and concrete impact on the serious phenomenon of unemployment, especially among youth. “We must work toward tangible and ambitious results”, Minister Bonino said, adding that “the European Council offers an opportunity to move toward a true economic and monetary Union that would include more effective solidarity mechanisms”.
What also emerged from their talks was a convergence of views on the need for greater democratic legitimacy – creating a closer bond between the European Parliament and national parliaments – in order to render citizens fully participant in the choices needed to advance European integration. Minister Bonino and Guigou agreed that Italy and France would work together on strengthening the common defence policy in anticipation of the December European Council. They also exchanged views on the most recent developments in Turkey, Syria and Mali.
