President Meloni’s press statement at the Italy-France Intergovernmental Summit

Thank you, Emmanuel, and good afternoon, everyone.

I would like to express my sincere thanks for this occasion, for the hospitality, for the opportunity to visit Cap d’Antibes and the first museum dedicated to Pablo Picasso, for also getting to see people bathing in the sea, and for this very important day for Italy-France relations. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate President Macron once again on the success of last week’s G7. It was very important and very successful, at a time when the international scenario is particularly complex. The G7 sent out an important signal of unity among the partners, as well as a capacity for dialogue beyond traditional blocs: we had discussions with many partners and counterparts over the course of the two days. I believe credit must be given to President Macron and the French organisation for what truly was a very successful G7. I know how much work this involves, as Italy held the G7 Presidency two years ago, and I am pleased to see part of the work carried out during the Italian Presidency being included in the work of the French G7 Presidency. 

As President Macron rightly said, the two of us have had plenty of opportunities to meet over the last few days and weeks: we spoke at the G7 and the European Council meeting, we were in Berlin yesterday for the E5 meeting, and we’ll be seeing each other next week at the NATO Summit.

We nevertheless thought it would be more than sensible, and actually important, to find the time among these multilateral meetings to also review our bilateral relations.

We undertook this commitment some time ago, and today we have finally brought it to fruition.

Today, we are holding the 36th Italy-France Intergovernmental Summit, and I believe this number is a good reflection of the long-standing and deep-rooted relationship between our nations.

Europe and the West would not be what they are without Italy and France. We are two major founding nations of the European Union, with converging interests in very many areas and strategic complementarity from a political, economic, industrial, cultural and social point of view – great assets for us as well as added value for the entire European continent and beyond. This is reflected in our extensive cooperation.

I am obviously thinking of the many agreements you have seen being signed here today, as well as those you haven’t seen exchanged but that form part of this summit, and indeed the excellent work of the Business Forum – these reflect the wide-ranging and varied areas in which we work together and have been cooperating for a long time. At this moment in time, we are focusing, and above all intend to focus, on the most strategic areas with a high value and a high-tech component, which certainly include defence matters – I am thinking of the collaboration enabling us to contribute to Europe’s strategic autonomy and, in particular, the SAMP/T programme, which is Europe’s only air and long-range missile defence system, designed and built entirely in Europe.

We want to strengthen this cooperation even further, as can also be seen in the 2026-2031 roadmap. However, during this period, first with Ukraine and then the Gulf, we have understood just how cutting-edge this system is and how it can also help us in the complex times we find ourselves in.

We want to boost our cooperation with regard to the space economy too, as President Macron rightly pointed out. This is another area in which Italy and France boast a state-of-the-art industrial sector, as well as being the only two European nations to have independent access to space through the Vega-C and Ariane 6 satellite launchers. We can make a difference in this sector, which still has huge potential. We hope that our cooperation can also support the success of Project Bromo, which aims to create a European champion in this sector.

Equally as crucial is the joint work we intend to carry out on major infrastructure projects, such as the second Frejus tunnel, the new Tenda tunnel, the reopening of the Moncenisio tunnel and the Cuneo–Breil–Ventimiglia line.

We obviously intend to keep working to boost our very extensive economic and trade relations. In 2025, trade volumes exceeded the record amount of EUR 112 billion. France remains Italy’s largest foreign investor. However, even in this regard, I believe we can always do better, and here I’ll mention the Business Forum again, as it shows how much willingness there is among our respective production systems to do even better. 

As the President rightly said, we also had an extensive discussion on the issues on the European and international agenda. There really is a lot to say on this, but I’ll limit myself to a few points. The first regards our cooperation on migration management, which is also reflected in one of the agreements that have been exchanged. This is fundamental between two nations like ours if we want to effectively combat illegal immigration and human trafficking. We have been working together on this issue for a long time, cooperating efficiently, but with the new European rules we will be able to do so with even better results. In the meantime, I believe we should also be happy with the results being produced by the new European approach to migration management. As you know, I also personally put a lot of work into this. In 2026, we have witnessed a further 40% reduction in the number of irregular crossings at the European Union’s external borders. We are therefore on the right track. 

Border security, however, must also be extended to the other major emergencies of our time, and here I must mention the fight against drug trafficking. Tomorrow is the International Day against Drug Abuse, and it is worth pointing out that Italy and France have decided to give further impetus to the European coalition they launched together, which more than 30 nations have now already joined. Over the coming months, we will be hosting an event on prevention and rehabilitation in Italy, namely at the Community of San Patrignano, which is a prime example of Italian excellence. 

The third point regards the negotiations on the EU’s next budget. In this regard, Italy and France agree on many things. They agree on the fact that Europe’s new priorities cannot be funded to the detriment of the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Policy. The CAP and Cohesion Policy are not relics of the past; they are preconditions, without which it is simply useless to talk about competitiveness and strategic autonomy, as they are two preconditions for competitiveness and strategic autonomy.

The fourth point I would like to focus on is the Middle East. We will continue to do our part to help with the agreement between the United States and Iran, and above all to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a strategic priority for everyone. We are also working on this ahead of the upcoming NATO summit. The dramatic situation in Gaza and the West Bank also remains a key concern, but we are paying just as much attention to the crisis in Lebanon, where Italy and France can absolutely make a difference. Our two nations have always been committed to peace and stability. As you know, the UNIFIL mission will terminate at the end of the year and, in our view, an international presence is needed to avert an incredibly dangerous security vacuum. This is the reason why we have decided to launch a coalition to provide post-UNIFIL support to Lebanon, perhaps also soon planning an international conference to launch the initiative.

Ukraine: we have had countless discussions with President Macron on this and our goal is about how we can best help support Ukraine and best support a process toward a just and lasting peace for this ravaged nation. We have seen repeated willingness to engage in negotiations from Kyiv, but Russia keeps refusing to engage in dialogue, imposing preconditions which, objectively speaking, are unacceptable.

In this complex context, an awareness is taking hold with increasing conviction that there is, and must be, scope for Europe to play a role, considering that both the peace process and the future post-conflict scenario are linked to our continent’s fundamental interests. We had an extensive discussion on this during yesterday’s E5 meeting in Berlin and also exchanged views on how to represent these priorities.

Dear Emmanuel, today, we are not only celebrating a long-standing friendship but are also affirming our shared awareness that Italy and France are two fundamental nations in building a Europe that is truly able to tackle the difficult challenges history is presenting it with. We are trying to complete this task humbly but with determination, and we will continue to work together, if possible even better than we have done until now.

Thank you again for your hospitality and thank you again for what is a very important day for our relations.

[Courtesy translation]

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Inglese

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Italy-France Intergovernmental Summit

Tipologia intervento: 
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