Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron signed the Quirinale Treaty in the presence of the Head of State Sergio Mattarella during the ceremony held at the Colle.The agreement for enhanced cooperation between the two countries was followed by a handshake between Draghi and Macron and then from that, intense and prolonged, between the French president and the Head of State.
Enhanced cooperation between Italy and France
A stronger and more structured link between Italy and France will help build a stronger Europe. This is the ambition to which the Quirinal Treaty aspires, contained in the words of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to the French leader Emmanuel Macron, received at Colle on the eve of the signing of the document that will sanction a new “strengthened bilateral cooperation” between the two countries. Or rather, “a common future”. On the Italian side, the Treaty, as foreseen by the Constitution, was signed by the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, but the seat and name chosen to finalize the new agreement intend to reflect the exceptional nature of the relations between Rome and Paris – ready to overcome some misunderstandings of the past -, and to evoke that Treaty of the Elysée which in 1963 brought France and Germany closer together. The text will then be submitted for ratification by Parliament.
From European policy to security: the chapters of the agreement
There are numerous bilateral issues to which the Treaty refers: from European and international politics – with particular attention to the Mediterranean and Africa, fundamental for their geographical position and strategic interests -, defense, security, and again economy, industry, space, ecological and digital transition, culture, young people. In practice, from now on, Italy and France will consult periodically – even before any European Council – to determine a common agenda, and will hold a bilateral government summit every year, a tradition interrupted first by the profound crisis between Rome and Paris at the times of Count 1 and then from Covid.
Cross-border cooperation
The Treaty also provides for a joint civil service already mentioned last July on the occasion of Mattarella’s visit to Paris. Among other elements, a cross-border cooperation between the two police forces – an argument that in the past had caused quite a few misunderstandings, especially in the management of migrants in Ventimiglia or Bardonecchia – at a time when Italy is looking for a shore on landings and Macron is always more convinced that, in addition to strengthening Europe’s external borders, a Schengen reform is necessary, for which he will work in the forthcoming French semester of European presidency. The rotating presidency that Paris intends to coordinate with Rome. The aim is also to strengthen cooperation between Italy and France also with the periodic participation of one or more ministers of one government in a Council of ministers of the other government.