Good afternoon everyone. 

I am very pleased to be here today in Berlin, to have had the opportunity for this long meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. We have met on a number of other occasions, but this is our first bilateral meeting here in Berlin; a meeting between two nations, as the Chancellor rightfully said, that are linked by a bilateral relationship covering almost all public and private sectors, and that is therefore strongly interconnected and very important for both of us.

This partnership is characterised by very close economic links, making our two economies highly complementary and both fundamental for the European economy as a whole.

Our ability to seek solutions, our cooperation is therefore also crucial for the progress of EU-level solutions, especially regarding issues that are more complex at this time of great crisis, when we are all somewhat forced to ask ourselves questions. This will be the case at next week’s European Council meeting.

As Chancellor Scholz has already mentioned, the special European Council meeting will focus on a number of very important issues: the international issue of support for Ukraine, but also issues that are inevitably linked to the war in Ukraine, such as the competitiveness of the European economic system.
It is fundamental that we quickly achieve a European response to strengthen the competitiveness of our enterprises. We have seen, for example, the United States of America address this situation by investing a lot in their companies; the question we have collectively asked ourselves is: what can Europe do to make its companies equally as competitive in this scenario?

I have explained our position to Chancellor Scholz and that position is certainly one of caution regarding changes to State aid rules, in the sense that we all need to maintain what is defined in Europe as a ‘level playing field’ – the same level of competitiveness for everyone. For us, a possible solution is full flexibility regarding the funds that have already been allocated over these years and are already available to Member States; flexibility that would also allow those resources to be used to tackle the great challenges that lie before us.

As the Chancellor is well aware, Italy is strongly committed to the issue of energy security, for example. Like Germany, when the invasion of Ukraine began, we quickly worked to diversify our supply sources; so far, it appears to me that we have both done an excellent job. Italy intends to continue this work. This Government is particularly focusing on energy cooperation above all with countries along the southern shore of the Mediterranean, in order to strengthen Italy’s ability to be an energy supply hub for itself and, as a result, also for Europe as a whole.

Our aim is to ensure natural gas supplies in the short term, but also to quickly become a hub for green hydrogen, for example, which is another goal we are all focused on. Given the energy interconnection between our economies, we are carrying out this work with a European perspective.
As the Chancellor mentioned, we have also discussed the migration issue, in relation to which Italy’s position regards the need to work with the countries of origin and with the countries of transit in order to effectively combat human trafficking and deal with migration flows as much as possible before they arrive to Europe’s borders.

We believe the initial working drafts for the next European Council meeting are a good starting point, but it will be important for the European Council to act pragmatically and concretely, not only because it is difficult to combat secondary movements if we do not first work on the primary movements, but also because I believe we must focus on the fact that, with the current international crisis, the migration issue is also, perhaps above all, a matter of security. Those who are familiar with the dynamics in the Sahel, for example, know that, today, Wagner also has a significant presence there; there are certain forces that may see migration as being a tool within this conflict.

For Italy, it is fundamental to receive support in defending the European Union’s external borders, by working on the external dimension. Strong cooperation with the countries of origin and of transit is key in order to combat illegal migration flows, but also to bring investments, create employment and ensure people have the right not to have to escape their own countries, not to have to migrate; in order to combat poverty, which is what underlies instability in a number of African nations.  

These are serious issues, but I believe Europe is in a good position to be able to deal with such complex times.

With regard to foreign policy, as you already know, our standpoints are strongly aligned, starting with our responses to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Italy and Germany immediately guaranteed full political, financial and military support to allow Kyiv to exercise its legitimate right to self-defence.

We will continue doing so for as long as it takes. In parallel, we have also discussed a strong collaboration between governments and companies regarding the country’s reconstruction.

We are aware of the importance and vitality of the transatlantic relationship, just as we are aware of the many issues on which our economies can continue to cooperate; cooperation between two nations whose brilliant business communities, a characteristic feature of both Italy and Germany, are also strongly interconnected. 

This is the beginning of an undertaking that is sure to last for a very long time.

I wish to thank Chancellor Scholz for his welcome, and thanks to all of you.

[Courtesy translation]