Germania e Italia, partner nella costruzione dell'Europa

Today as always, the construction of Europe and the deepening of integration cannot be achieved without a close and engaging relationship between Germany and Italy. Well aware of this, and animated by this belief, on 22-23 January, the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP) organized an Italian-German dialogue on the future of the EU, entitled “Germany and Italy, partners in the construction of Europe”.

The event, which benefited from the support of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Compagnia di San Paolo and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, was , tellingly, held in Rome at the same time as the High-Level Italian-German Summit in Florence, during which the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, received the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Furthermore, the event took place in the middle of a crucial week for the EU because of the decisions taken by the ECB on January 22, right before the opening of activities, and the elections in Greece on January 25.

Diplomats, economists, academics, experts and politicians intervened during the four sessions – competitiveness, growth and employment; energy; neighbourhood policy; perspectives of integration. The concluding remarks were delivered by Ulrich Weiss, President of the German section of the Italian-German dialogue forum, and by Gianni Bonvicini, Executive Vice-President of IAI.