Macron and Draghi sign Italian-French treaty – “We want an open, sovereign Europe”

The Italian-French Treaty of Enhanced Bilateral Cooperation was signed today, Friday (26/11) at the Kyrinalios presidential palace by Emanuel Macron and the Mario Draghi. This is an eleven-chapter treaty, which covers, inter alia, the fields of defense, foreign policy, culture, industrial cooperation, new technologies, but also cooperation to solve problems in Africa and the Mediterranean.

“We also want to emphasize a European policy on asylum and migration flows, with the participation of the entire European Union, based on the principle of solidarity. “We must be able to create a real European defense,” he said.

“We created an Italian-French house, “Ministers and diplomats will be able to speak freely,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. protect Europe’s external borders and combat irregular migration ”.

“Europe to act coherently”

“We want an open, sovereign Europe that acts coherently,” Macron said.

The Italian Prime Minister, for his part, stressed that ““Europe must be able to defend its borders, and this treaty contributes to that.”

Regarding the revision of the Stability Pact, Mario Draghi stressed: “Europe’s fiscal rules were already inadequate before the pandemic. Today their review is inevitable. To address the cost of the pandemic, the need for strong public support, but also to tackle climate change and to make technological investments. We need new rules to correct the past and plan for the future. “

Finally, referring to immigration and refugees, French President Emanuel Macron said: “We must offer protection and reception to refugees. But men and women who enter our countries illegally, must be accompanied back to their countries of origin. “We need to protect Europe’s external borders by also fighting traffickers who exploit migrants.”