Quirinal Pact, Gozi: “It will make a difference in the EU, interests never so converging”

The Quirinal Pact, which will be signed on Friday in Rome between Italy and France, is a “historic” treaty, in a phase in which “the interests of the two countries have never been so convergent”. A treaty that will make the difference in relations between Rome and Paris, but also in Europe. Sandro Gozi, MEP of Renew Europe, said this to the Adnkronos, underlining that it is “the first time that Italy has committed itself so intensely” to structure a bilateral relationship with another great European country. “And this is excellent for the two countries, because never before have the interests of Rome and Paris converged as in this phase of history and joint bilateral coordinated action can make the difference in Europe, taking advantage of the excellent agreement between Mario Draghi and Emmanuel Macron and the return to the center of Italy’s political scene “, says Gozi. The Pact of the Quirinale will allow “structuring over time and duration the bilateral relations between two large countries which – observes the MEP – cannot depend exclusively on the personalities at the Elysée and Palazzo Chigi, on the contrary they must ignore this and be more structured in the time, fostering mutual understanding, dialogue and consultation on common projects, also using European resources in the industrial, military, research, Franco-Italian civic service and culture sectors “. Gozi speaks of the Treaty as “an evolutionary project, which will make it easier to avoid upstream the misunderstandings that have often characterized the Italian-French relationship in recent years and which in the absence of a mechanism have been managed and fed and exploited by politics and Press”. The MEP then talks about the differences with the Elysée Treaty between France and Germany of 1963, ‘updated’ with that of Aachen in 2019, taken as a ‘model’ for that of the Quirinale. “The history of relations between Paris and Berlin is not that between Rome and Paris and there has never been the objective of replicating that Treaty and that special relationship – he underlines – From an institutional point of view, we say that it is deeper and more intense, there is a joint council of ministers, a joint parliamentary assembly. It is the product of different needs and a different history “. The Quirinal Treaty, on the other hand, “is less structured, but it is evolutionary and refers to European resources that Italy and France can better exploit together”, concludes Gozi, who finally observes: “Only a true Franco-German-Italian tripod can give to Europe that stability necessary to transform itself in the key sectors of defense, foreign policy, digital and climate “.