The 36th Franco-Italian summit in Antibes on June 25 marks a major turning point in the tortuous bilateral relationship between our two countries. Since the election of Giorgia Meloni, in October 2022, with a solid sovereignist, liberal and conservative majority, the relationship with Emmanuel Macron has been erratic, like the deep European fractures and divisions between social democrats and liberals, on the one hand, and sovereignists and conservatives, on the other.
From now on, the two leaders have chosen to overcome their ideological differences to build a strategic partnership based on a simple reality: in the current geopolitical context, France and Italy must act together on most of the major issues which form the basis of community Europe, like the central concept of “strategic autonomy”; that of energy independence, particularly nuclear, as well as the “vital” deepening of an internal market…
However, disagreements remained numerous: immigration, budgetary choices, industrial and commercial policies, relations with Brussels, European leadership, transatlantic relations. However, three events changed priorities.
First of all, the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has continued, for five years now, to confirm Giorgia Meloni’s rapprochement with the European position in favor of unwavering military and diplomatic support for Ukraine. Furthermore, the return of tensions in the Middle East, around Gaza and the Palestinian question and the specter of the Israeli-American war in the Middle East, confronting Europeans with the difficult choice of not supporting it.
Finally, the growing uncertainties over American commitment in Europe, in a context where the American president regularly questions the role of NATO, reinforce the imperative for European rearmament and a more robust defense industrial base.
In this context, the rapprochement between Paris and Rome broadens the center of gravity of the Union beyond the traditional Franco-German engine. Industrial cooperation already exists in defense, aeronautics, space, rail, energy, automobiles and luxury goods. The Quirinal Treaty of 2021 laid the institutional foundations for this rapprochement; the Antibes summit now gives it a real strategic dimension.
This synthesis between national sovereignty and European sovereignty is consistent with the analyzes of Giorgia Meloni’s predecessors, Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, who support the need to strengthen European competitiveness through massive investments, a capital markets union, a more integrated single market and a relaxation of excessive regulations in the face of the United States and China. This rapprochement does not eliminate all the differences, in particular the differences in approach to certain migration policies. If it is true that Giorgia Meloni was able to demonstrate great pragmatism with a three-year decree on migratory flows, authorizing 500,000 new entries between 2026 and 2028, it is clear that this will have had little effect on the Franco-Italian borders. This is also the case on agricultural issues, notably on Mercosur.
The two leaders now seem to consider these disagreements to be secondary to common strategic interests. This development is the main success of the Antibes summit. Is Europe thus entering a new phase of geopolitical maturity? It would, in any case, be of good quality, in the light of American arrogance and strategic determinism, manifested on the occasion of the NATO Summit, held in Ankara, on July 7 and 8.
Great advances often arise from the ability of leaders to overcome their ideological differences
France and Italy together have many assets with nearly 130 million inhabitants; more than 5,000 billion euros in cumulative GDP – including nearly 100 billion devoted to defense (above the 2% required at the last NATO summits); two major seats in European institutions, within the G7 and the G20; leading defense industries, including leaders Airbus and Leonardo, with a combined turnover of nearly 30 billion euros; world leaders in aeronautics, space, nuclear power, luxury, infrastructure, automobiles and industrial technologies…
European history shows that great progress often arises from the ability of leaders to overcome their ideological differences for the benefit of a higher interest. This summit marks the end of an illusion, that of the German engine capable of single-handedly carrying Europe into the 21st century. In this world dominated by the balance of power, the Union will have to learn to operate as a coalition of powers. This logic is based, out of pragmatism and a concern for efficiency, on a Europe capable of acting with “those who want and those who can”, according to the principle of the “coalition of the willing”, in order to overcome the blockages inherent in decision-making processes based on the consensus of 27, while guaranteeing that the strategic interests of the southern and eastern facades of the Union are fully represented by credible and complementary actors.
Beyond a simple bilateral reconciliation, Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni have thus outlined a new method of European governance: more pragmatic, more flexible and better adapted to the strategic realities of the 21st century.
*Emmanuel Dupuy is president of the Prospective and Security Institute in Europe (IPSE), national secretary in charge of defense and security issues The Centrists, teacher in geopolitics (Catholic University of Lille, HEIP, ISG).
Pierre Maurin is an entrepreneur, associate researcher (IPSE), national secretary for Economy and Employment of the Centrists.
