The Italian-German inter-governmental summit was “rich in substance” because it examined “the principal European issues and saw bilateral economic relations further strengthened”. These were the comments of Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, speaking on “Radio Anch’io”, on the outcome of the meeting in Villa Madama. The summit was chaired by Prime Minister Mario Monti and the Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and attended by ministers from both countries and representatives of their industrial and financial sectors.
In Rome, explained Terzi, we discussed in some detail sectors that are part of “an economic relationship of extraordinary importance” that can be succinctly conveyed in the trade figures, at 100 billion euros. Indeed, Germany is Italy’s leading export market. Against this background, “the summit set up working groups, especially in the infrastructure and energy sectors, for the creation of single European markets, and discussed employment and youth employment issues”.
Terzi also had a discussion with his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle, with whom he discussed, inter alia, “what we can do together to give a new vision and new drive to the idea of a sound and deep political union in Europe”. For example, “we are working on an initiative for a group of countries that would bring concrete solutions to the table to improve the efficiency and capacity of our defence and security systems”.
