Now in its thirty-sixth year, the Italy-France intergovernmental summit in Cap d'Antibes is proof of a "historic and structured" bond between two founding countries of the European Union. "Without Italy and France, Europe and the West would not be what they are," Giorgia Meloni asserted after her bilateral meeting with Emmanuel Macron, before the plenary session.
There are many, explains the Prime Minister, political, economic, industrial, and cultural complementarities that unite the two sides of the Alps.
The Prime Minister thanked the head of the Elysée Palace for his hospitality and for the success of the recent G7 summit under the French presidency, which gave the West a "strong signal of unity" in a "particularly complex" international phase.
At the heart of the day was the revitalization of bilateral relations between the two states. Among the strategic dossiers addressed, defense played a central role. Meloni emphasized the value of industrial cooperation in the sector, starting with the Samp/T anti-missile system, considered one of the pillars of the Union's strategic autonomy. This sector is set to further strengthen in light of international tensions, from the war in Ukraine to the crises in the Middle East.
Alongside defense, Macron identifies energy as one of the cornerstones of the new era of Franco-Italian cooperation, noting that the current geopolitical context makes it increasingly "urgent" to "strengthen Europe's energy independence." For the Élysée president, Italy's return to nuclear power is a good thing. Paris and Rome aim to build an industrial partnership in the SMR sector, with the goal of developing a joint supply chain across the entire civil nuclear value chain.
Another chapter concerns space, a sector in which Meloni recalls that Rome and Paris are the only European nations with independent access thanks to the Vega C and Ariane 6 launchers. This cooperation could lead to the emergence of new European industrial champions in a sector considered crucial to the continent's future competitiveness.
