Now in its thirty-sixth year, the Italy-France intergovernmental summit in Cap d'Antibes is proof of a "historic and structured" bond between two founding countries of the European Union. "Without Italy and France, Europe and the West would not be what they are," Giorgia Meloni asserted after her bilateral meeting with Emmanuel Macron, before the plenary session.

There are many, explains the Prime Minister, political, economic, industrial, and cultural complementarities that unite the two sides of the Alps.

The Prime Minister thanked the head of the Elysée Palace for his hospitality and for the success of the recent G7 summit under the French presidency, which gave the West a "strong signal of unity" in a "particularly complex" international phase.

At the heart of the day was the revitalization of bilateral relations between the two states. Among the strategic dossiers addressed, defense played a central role. Meloni emphasized the value of industrial cooperation in the sector, starting with the Samp/T anti-missile system, considered one of the pillars of the Union's strategic autonomy. This sector is set to further strengthen in light of international tensions, from the war in Ukraine to the crises in the Middle East.

Alongside defense, Macron identifies energy as one of the cornerstones of the new era of Franco-Italian cooperation, noting that the current geopolitical context makes it increasingly "urgent" to "strengthen Europe's energy independence." For the Élysée president, Italy's return to nuclear power is a good thing. Paris and Rome aim to build an industrial partnership in the SMR sector, with the goal of developing a joint supply chain across the entire civil nuclear value chain.

Another chapter concerns space, a sector in which Meloni recalls that Rome and Paris are the only European nations with independent access thanks to the Vega C and Ariane 6 launchers. This cooperation could lead to the emergence of new European industrial champions in a sector considered crucial to the continent's future competitiveness.

On the infrastructure front, the desire to accelerate major cross-border connections is confirmed: the second tube of the Fréjus tunnel, the Tenda tunnel, the reopening of the Mont Cenis and the Cuneo-Breil-Ventimiglia line. The Quirinale Treaty itself, Macron recalls, "decisively favored the completion of the new Tenda tunnel and reaffirmed the shared commitment to strategic rail links, from Turin-Lyon to the Marseille-Genoa line, which will be eligible for European funding."

The agreement between Rome and Paris also extends to economic issues. In 2025, trade between the two countries surpassed a record €112 billion. The French president emphasizes the need to accelerate investments, reduce strategic dependencies, and diversify supply sources, while protecting European companies from unfair competition and strengthening the Union's ability to defend its economic and industrial interests.

On the international level, the two leaders confirmed their convergence of views on the main crisis issues. From the Middle East to Ukraine, including Lebanon, Italy and France aim to strengthen diplomatic and political coordination. Specifically, Meloni announced her intention to promote, together with Paris, an international coalition to support Lebanon in the post-UNIFIL mission phase.

And on Iran and the Rutte case, he reiterates: "We did not participate in the conflict in Iran . Moreover, if we had participated in the conflict in Iran, it would be inexplicable, let's say, for this disappointment, which is so often reiterated by the American president. We respected our commitments by granting bases for activities that were not kinetic but rather logistical and technical in nature. And when requests arose that went beyond that scope, we did not grant the use, the authorization, as I repeat, is widely known. So the government did exclusively what Parliament declared, as Mark Rutte himself confirmed yesterday from the Oval Office."

"Today we are not just celebrating a historic friendship, we are affirming a shared awareness: that Italy and France are two key nations in building a Europe truly capable of facing the difficult challenges facing it," Meloni emphasized. This partnership, according to the two governments, must be increasingly decisive on the major issues of security, energy, industry, and European competitiveness.

(Unioneonline)

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