Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, will be in Paris this evening to meet the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna. On the margins of the meeting, the two Ministers will hold a joint press conference.
“As President Macron has also recognised, Europe has a duty of solidarity towards Italy with regard to the migratory emergency, given that the emergency our country is experiencing is a European issue, not just an Italian one”, the Deputy Prime Minister noted. “For this reason,” he continued, “we are intensifying dialogue with our European partners”.
Stressing the importance of the visit, Tajani recalled that “Italy and France have very intense relations, now also strengthened by the Quirinal Treaty: the interdependencies between our countries – Italy is France’s second largest trading partner, and vice versa – require efforts to become even deeper and more structured, further strengthening trade exchanges, which reached 111 billion euros in 2022, as well as investments”.
With this in mind, the Deputy Prime Minister commented that “we aim to strengthen transalpine networks, which are strategic for economies as integrated and interdependent as ours”. In this regard, he recalled that a Bilateral Cross-Border Cooperation Committee will be convened in Turin on 31 October.
During their meeting, Tajani and Colonna will also discuss the main international crises, such as the conflicts in the Sahel, the Maghreb and Ukraine, and the main European issues. The enlargement process will also be discussed. Particular attention will also be paid to the reforms of the European Union in preparation for the entry of new Member States and the revision of the multiannual financial framework, as well as the reform of European economic governance, on which Italy and France are in broad agreement.
