“Today’s meeting strengthens the message of the Rome meeting at a critical time for the future of the EU and testifies to the role played by the countries that from the beginning believed in the strategic importance of the idea of Europe,” said Paolo Gentiloni, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on the sidelines of today’s Brussels meeting of the six founding countries of the EU.
“In the coming weeks we will be called to work together in tackling the challenge of economic growth, the ‘Migration Compact’ and the future of the Union following the referendum in Britain,” Mr Gentiloni added.
Following is the communiqué released at the end of the meeting:
“The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands met on Friday May 20, 2016 at Val Duchesse in Brussels.
Following the informal meeting in Rome on February 9, 2016, the six Founding Member States met again to reflect upon the preparation of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which was signed on March 25, 1957.
This anniversary forms a unique opportunity to reconfirm their strong commitment to Europe and the European project. They agreed on the need to further elaborate its possible form and content as well as the practical modalities.
Six months after the Valletta Summit, the Ministers had an exchange of views on the migration challenge and the EU external action in this field. Having in mind the future global strategy for foreign and security policy, they considered ways to enhance the effectiveness, coherence and visibility of the EU action to address migration and its root causes as well as stability in the Sahel region.
The EUSR for the Sahel region joined them for one part of the discussion.
The Ministers also looked at the security dimension in the region where, despite good progress on the military side, they recognized the need for further efforts to prevent and combat terrorism, violent extremism and trafficking. Support to the G5 countries and working towards a more regional approach, including through the contribution of our EU CSDP missions and UN missions, remain key in this regard, while keeping the focus on the national priorities. The Six welcomed the upcoming meeting of the G5 Ministers with the HRVP in June.
They reiterated their commitment to support the Sahel countries through bilateral and EU efforts.
Looking at the development-security nexus, they stressed the need to make swift progress at the EU level on Capacity Building for Security and Development.”
