Yesterday, Deputy Minister Benedetto Della Vedova took part in the conference on “The Quirinal Treaty: an Italian-French axis for the integration of Europe”, organised by the Ducci Foundation at the Accademia dei Lincei.
“Italy and France are currently engaged in reviving their bilateral relations, culminating in the State visit of the President of the Republic to Paris last week”, Della Vedova said in his opening address. “The strategic relationship between our countries has primarily affected the European sphere, where, as President Mattarella himself emphasised, they are playing a crucial driving role in the work that led to the definition of the ambitious Next Generation EU plan and which has enabled Europe to move forward together in the fight against the consequences of the pandemic”.
“Our two governments are strongly committed to concluding this Treaty,” The Deputy Minister said. This is an unprecedented and extremely complex endeavour, given that it covers so many different areas of government action, from ecological and digital transition to innovation, health and culture”. The aim, Mr. Della Vedova said, is to set up structured consultation mechanisms and establish a roadmap to coordinate the respective actions at domestic, European and international level, create synergies and promote joint initiatives.
For the Deputy Minister “a stronger relationship between Italy and France can be the driving force behind an equally strong European project.” “The institutionalisation of cooperation between Italy and France must therefore be understood as a stimulus and an example for strengthening cooperation also with other countries that have the European project at heart and which place protection of the rule of law at the heart of this project.”
“France will be called to make a major contribution to this shared commitment to reviving the European project from 1 January 2022, when it will assume the Presidency of the EU Council, and I would like to emphasise – Della Vedova concluded – that Italy is ready to give its support, to build a stronger Europe capable of responding to the difficult challenges of these times.”
