“The celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome will be a very important occasion, we are working to give the Union a revival signal at a time that many call as “difficulties”. We are not blind, there are signs of division but we see also the potential. Just in a difficult world like this we think that the European project can be revived”. This was stated by the Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, at a meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, at Palazzo Chigi. “The basic idea will be to draw, for the next 10 years, a stronger and more cohesive Europe on security, defense – continued Gentiloni -, and more united on migration issues and engaged on growth and investment”.

For the prime minister, “Italy is in a phase of growth and recovery in terms of jobs, but we also know that this growth is limited and gradual, and it needs to be accompanied. We think of a Europe that is the frame to accompany this growth and these new jobs”. Gentiloni also spoke about immigration, and explained: “We have achieved some results together, I recall the excellent results of the informal Council meeting chaired by Joseph in Malta about a month ago, in which the EU has expressed its full support to the agreement between Italy and Libya. We will invest on this even in the coming days, further strengthening the capacities of the Libyan coast guard. No one should expect miracles to happen within a few weeks, because it would be an illusion”.

“Miracles cannot be done, but we are working for all the rest. In the last two months we have reached agreements on immigration that were unexpected compared to a few weeks before. This is the result of a good synergy between our countries,” Muscat explained. “The agreement with Libya is not perfect, even for the situation of the government of that country, but it is the most important point that Europe reached in terms of control of the migratory routes of the Central Mediterranean”.

On EU policies, the Prime Minister of Malta, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said: “Europe cannot be just an economic project, but it must also have a social function, which we lost on the way. We need a coordinated policy at the social level, in order to show to the citizens that Europe is not just a matter of budgets but also a matter of wellbeing. Social Europe has been forgotten for too many years, and the citizens have felt alienated from European “project.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews