President Meloni’s press statement with German Chancellor Merz

Good evening, thank you for being here.

I am very pleased to have welcomed the German Federal Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to Palazzo Chigi, for the first time since the beginning of his mandate. We are here today following the European Political Community summit, where we had the opportunity to initially exchange some views, as we have also done on various occasions over the telephone. We discussed these further during our bilateral just now, which will be followed by a working dinner also with our delegations. This was certainly a very open, very cordial meeting, but above all it was a concrete, operational meeting which I believe is the most effective denial that the new German government allegedly lacks interest in its relationship with Italy. It is simply impossible to cast doubt on the relations between Italy and Germany, on the depth and solidity of relations between our two nations; as we know, these ties exist in reality, and that is regardless of the times we are going through. Our nations are friends and allies and are also united by deep historical and cultural ties, playing a leading role in European dynamics as founders of the European Union as well as of course being on the same side in all multilateral and international fora.

As you know, we are also the two largest manufacturing economies in Europe, and over the years our production systems have become increasingly interconnected, meaning our destinies are obviously very linked. We are key partners for each other, with trade exceeding EUR 150 billion in 2024, so it’s very easy to see how Italy and Germany working together is certainly good news for our own peoples, but is also good news for Europe as a whole. This is why we signed an Action Plan in Berlin in November 2023 to raise the level of our cooperation and also to explore new areas for growth. We set ourselves a number of goals in that Action Plan, which we have been working on over the last two years and intend to continue pursuing. I am thinking, for example, of the commitment, perhaps the most important of all, to strengthen our economic cooperation and boost the competitiveness of our companies. We share this priority, also and above all to remedy the dramatic consequences that an excessively ideological view of the ecological transition has had for our production systems, our workers and our companies.

We agree on the need to achieve environmental targets, but we also agree that this must be done by taking into account economic and social sustainability too, and with a pragmatic approach that can no longer be postponed, because we cannot run the risk of industrial desertification on our continent. I have often said that there is nothing green about a desert, and so first of all we must combat desertification.

I am obviously thinking of the automotive industry, which is one of the major subjects on which Italy and Germany can absolutely make the difference. This sector has been crushed more than others by an excessively ideological approach. We know the European Commission has already gradually launched a number of corrective actions regarding previously made choices, thanks also to Italy’s impetus. I am thinking of the issue of fines, for example, and the matter of bringing forward the review to the second half of 2025, but it is still not enough.

We believe more can and must be done. We believe the principle of technological neutrality needs to be fully affirmed. This was included in the conclusions of the last European Council meeting, again thanks to Italy’s impetus, and represents an essential step to focus on alternative energy sources, such as biofuels and hydrogen. The method for calculating emissions needs to be reviewed, taking into consideration the actual level of pollution for a vehicle’s entire production cycle.

These are some of the proposals Italy is pursuing. The automotive industry, and indeed other energy-intensive industries, need to be guaranteed access to electricity at more competitive prices. I personally continue to believe it is counterproductive to keep focusing solely on a transition towards electric, whose supply chains, as we know, are not controlled by Europe but by other players.

We also agree with the Chancellor on the fact that the European Union must resist the temptation to continue over-regulating everything and that we must instead concentrate on the major issues of our time, where our joint efforts can make the difference. Perhaps returning to the principle of subsidiarity, which was among the principles included in the Treaties and is perhaps the least adequately considered, can make the difference. Also in this regard, the European Commission has already taken steps. We are convinced that simplification should not only be downstream, but must also be upstream of the measures being implemented.

We must first of all remove the internal tariffs we risk imposing on ourselves and on our production systems and companies. I think Italy and Germany can make a decisive contribution on this.

Based on the Action Plan, we have worked to intensify our defence cooperation, an area in which Italy and Germany can count on industrial players that generate very high added value. This is what we have done, as can be seen in the joint venture between Leonardo and Rheinmetall, an initiative worth approximately EUR 25 billion which is based in Italy but can be considered an initial grouping of the European defence industry, because, and this is something else we discussed, Italy and Germany represent an added value also in transatlantic relations, and can play a decisive role in the shared efforts to respond to the greater responsibilities Europe is being called to take on within NATO.

I remain convinced that our work must aim at building a solid European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance to stand alongside the American pillar with a view to strategic complementarity.

We of course also discussed the major international issues with Chancellor Merz, the joint efforts to reach a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. As I have said many times, we first need to remember that, if today there are the conditions for peace talks, this is certainly thanks to the courage and tenacity of the Ukrainian people, but it is also thanks to the support the West has provided to Ukraine. There was no meeting between Zelensky and Putin in Istanbul, but I think it is nevertheless positive that the respective delegations met, thanks also to the efforts by Türkiye, thanks also to American efforts; we hope this can be an initial, tentative step towards a process for a just and lasting peace that obviously needs to take into due consideration the necessary security guarantees for the nation under attack.

We must keep insisting on this, and allow me in this regard to also express my appreciation for the words of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, who has also offered for the Holy See to host possible further peace negotiations.

We of course talked about the Middle East. We are both sincere friends of Israel, but it is precisely because we are friends of Israel that we cannot remain indifferent to what is happening in Gaza, where the situation is increasingly difficult and increasingly dramatic. We are committed to reaching a permanent end to the hostilities and, as I have already said and shall reaffirm, in this context there can be no ambiguity in demanding that Hamas release all hostages and in clearly stating that there is no future for Hamas, there is no future for a presence of Hamas in the Strip or in a future Palestinian state. As I also said to the Chancellor, I think it is possible to work, also using the reconstruction plan presented by Arab countries as a basis, towards a political and regional stability framework that can really bring an end to the conflict and open up the path towards a process leading to the two-state solution. To do this, courageous decisions need to be made by Israel, by Arab countries and by Palestinian leaders.

We addressed one of the issues that we undoubtedly care most about, which is the issue of immigration. We reviewed our existing collaboration in the context of the Rome Process and I find myself very much aligned with Chancellor Merz. I truly believe we will work very well together in consolidating the change of approach that has taken hold in Europe in recent years, prioritising the fight against human traffickers, defence of external borders, respect for legality, a strengthening of returns and equal cooperation, a new cooperation model with African countries, with counties of origin and of transit. I am very pleased the Chancellor is interested in participating in the work of the group of like-minded countries that meet before European Council meetings precisely to look at how to address the major issue of migration, also through innovative solutions such as our protocol with Albania. I think there is scope to work very well together on this.

We also discussed how to enhance our cooperation in other areas; energy is certainly another very important area. Italy can play a key role as a natural gas, electricity and green hydrogen supply hub both for internal flows within the European Union and for connections with Africa and the Mediterranean. As you know, this is one of the major strategic projects this Government is working on, and we are also working on the necessary interconnections, such as the SoutH2 Corridor, Elmed and Medlink. Energy is one of the areas, along with defence, infrastructure, immigration and competitiveness, on which I think we will focus our work to expand the scope of the Action Plan even more, to expand our cooperation.

In my view, today we are launching a new phase of the path leading us to the next intergovernmental summit between Italy and Germany which, and this is one of the decisions we have made, will be held in Italy at the beginning of 2026. I am therefore also pleased to announce this next meeting which we will immediately be getting to work on.

So, thank you Chancellor, thank you Friedrich, for being here and, above all, for the work we will be doing from today.

[Courtesy translation]