"We must fight illegality and transform illegal migration to legal migration," stressed Chancellor Angela Merkel following a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. In order to reduce refugee numbers in the long term, she said, one crucial factor will be to tackle the root causes of the problem, as well as effectively protecting the EU’s maritime borders and implementing the EU-Turkey Action Plan.

Schengen must not fail

Angela Merkel and Matteo Renzi warned of the dangers should the Schengen Agreement fail. "If Europe abandons Schengen, it abandons itself," declared Matteo Renzi. Italy is doing everything it can to ensure safety and security in conjunction with refugees. All refugees are now being registered; they are also photographed and finger-printed.

With respect to Italy’s contribution to the EU’s agreement to provide Turkey with three billion euros, Matteo Renzi provided his assurance that Italy would shoulder its share of the financing. But, he pointed out, Rome is still waiting for answers from the European Commission in this context. The Italian head of government reminded his audience that for many years it appeared that the refugee problem was a purely Italian problem. "Today we know that it is a European problem."

Italy on course for reforms

The Chancellor and Matteo Renzi stressed that relations between their two countries are good. Angela Merkel praised the successful reform course taken by her Italian counterpart, especially with respect to labour market policy and general structural reforms in Italy. Italy is going through a period of reform and will stick to this course, said Matteo Renzi. He stressed, "We are convinced that we are on the right path."

The two sides also agreed to "step up and revitalise" bilateral cooperation, underscored the Chancellor. To this end, the two countries will hold a conference this year in Germany and next year in Italy on "Industry 4.0", and will push ahead with the integration of IT and traditional manufacturing in both countries. The two heads of government pointed to 2017, in which Italy will hold the G7 Presidency and Germany the G20 Presidency. This offers a good opportunity to consult and coordinate agendas, stressed the Chancellor.

Working together to strengthen Europe

Matteo Renzi continued that Italy is no longer Europe’s problem. It has done its homework. He argued against populist movements in Europe and called for a firm response to them. For this, he said, economic growth is needed. Europe must once again be proud of itself and of its past.

The Chancellor declared, with respect to the possibility of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, the so-called Brexit, that both Germany and Italy "would be doing what they could to keep the United Kingdom in the European Union".