This “treated for enhanced bilateral cooperation” is very rare in Europe: it is only the second signed by France, after that of the Elysee, initialed in 1963 with Germany.
Le Monde with AFP
The Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, greeted “a historic moment” in the relationship between France and Italy. The two countries signed Friday, November 26, a bilateral enhanced cooperation treaty in order to consolidate a proven relationship in recent years.
The Treaty has been initialed in Rome, at the Presidential Palace of the Quirinal, by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the Head of the Italian Government, Mario Draghi, in the presence of the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella. The three men exchanged up long braces, while the patrol of France and its Italian equivalent, the tricolor arrows, survived the capital, leaving in the sky a plume of smoke in the colors of the two countries.
The text provides for strengthened axes of cooperation in diplomacy and defense, as well as in different areas, such as digital and environmental transitions, culture and education, economic and industrial cooperation, and space. It also establishes a common civilian service for young people and provides for the regular invitation of ministers to the advice of the respective ministers, on the model of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
This “treated for enhanced bilateral cooperation”, said Treaty of Quirinal, is very rare in Europe: it is only the second treaty signed by France after that of the Elysee, initialed in 1963 with Germany , supplemented by that of Aachen in 2019.
“A deep friendship”
The two managers multiplied the references to their European commitment, believing that their rapprochement reinforced the European Union in a difficult context for the block, after Brexit and at the moment when the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, passes the hand to Berlin.
“The institutions we have the honor of representing rely on the same republican values, on respect for human and civil rights, on Europeism,” said Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank . “From Stendhal to Umberto Eco, Mastroianni in Belmondo, to Claudia Cardinale, we share many memories and references in common,” he added.
For Emmanuel Macron, the treaty “seals a deep friendship”. “It was almost an anomaly not to have this treatise of the quirinal, because so many things unite us: our stories, our cultures, our artists”. “Founding countries of the Union, the first signatories of the treaties (…), we defend a more integrated Europe, more democratic, more sovereign,” said the French president. He, however, assured that France did not seek “alternative ways” to the Franco-German relationship after the departure of Angela Merkel.
Strengthen a proven relationship in recent years
The European Commissioner for the Economy, Italian Paolo Gentiloni, Himed on Twitter a Franco-Italian agreement that” strengthens the whole European Union in a historic transition phase “.
The Treaty, which had been announced in 2017, had been frozen after the 2018 training of a populist government led by the 5-star movement (M5S, antisystem) and the (far-right) league of Matteo Salvini.
The crisis culminated in early 2019, when the Vice-President of the Italian Council, Luigi di Maio, had met in France a leader of “yellow vests”. Shortly before, Matteo Salvini, Minister of the Interior, had called for the resignation of the French President. To protest, Paris had temporarily recalled his ambassador to Italy, Christian Masset: a manifestation of the most serious diplomatic crisis between the two neighbors since 1945.