Relaunching the European project

In anticipation of the Italian-Polish intergovernmental summit that will take place in Warsaw on 2 October, the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the Centre for European Strategy (Demos Europa) held a dialogue forum in the Polish capital to discuss some of the main themes that will figure on the summit’s agenda.

The initiative, which followed a first meeting held in Rome in 2012, was promoted by the foreign ministries of the two countries with the goal of examining the state and prospects of the political and economic relations between Italy and Poland.

Entitled Relaunching the European Project, the forum was held at Poland’s ministry of foreign affairs on 19 September 2013.

Participants included policymakers, researchers and economists from a number of Italian and Polish institutes. Invited experts discussed ways to further improve Italian-Polish relations in the economic and political spheres and explored the prospects for a sustained recovery in the eurozone.

Polish fears and expectations for their country’s entry into the euro currency were explored in detail as was the need for increased coordination and integration between European member states in the field of defence policy in a time of limited resources and budget cuts.

A lively debate about current developments in Europe’s southern neighbourhood followed, with the emphasis placed on the need to reform EU policies towards the Mediterranean and for a greater unity of purpose between member states if Europe is to remain a significant actor in its neighbourhood.