In Versailles on Monday 6 March by invitation of the French President, with less than 20 days to go until the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the French, German, Italian and Spanish leaders, called for a European Union with ambitious common objectives capable of progressing with differing levels of integration.
All four of them spoke in favour of the idea of "differentiated cooperation", particularly in the fields of defence, the Eurozone and Economic and Monetary Union, but also, eventually, social and fiscal harmonisation. François Hollande, Angela Merkel, Paolo Gentiloni and Mariano Rajoy also reaffirmed their belief in the European project and stressed the need to make the EU both stronger in the world and more effective in its responses to the problems encountered by European citizens.
The French President, who had floated the idea of this meeting of four on 20 February, listed a few simple ideas for the European Union: "Europe must take the consequences from Brexit and learn to live as a Union of 27". Having expressed warnings that morning, in an interview granted to several European newspapers, of the risk of the European project becoming derailed, he called for "new forms of cooperation, enhanced cooperation", to save the European project.
Although the 27 need to be sufficiently united in order to be respected in the world, this does not mean uniformity. Some countries should thus be able to move forwards more quickly in certain areas, without casting the others aside, but without allowing them to block movements towards integration.
Angela Merkel made the same observation. "It is our duty to pursue European integration", she said, particularly in these times of tensions and difficulties. As to the method, the German Chancellor spoke a long exactly the same lines as her French counterpart as to how to begin. "We need to have the courage to accept that certain countries wish to go further and more quickly". Merkel also stressed that these cooperation projects should remain open to other countries wishing to join further down the line.
The Declaration of Rome on 25 March must in any case reflect the future EU of 27: the German Chancellor believes that the EU must respond to the day-to-day concerns of Europeans, such as unemployment, guarantee their security and work together better in defence matters. The EU must also be a solid player, able to hold its own against the other players in globalisation.
Mariano Rajoy and Paolo Gentiloni, whose country will be responsible for drafting this Declaration of Rome, also lent their support to this idea of differentiated paces of integration, although the main priorities are more of a social order for Spain and also related to the management of migration flows. Although Rajoy's ideal scenario is in-depth integration for all 27, Spain remains inclined to go further in this integration with all those that also wish to, in external policy and defence.
In Rome, Paolo Gentiloni will have the job of guiding the 27 to agreement on a common vision, but he also spoke in favour of a Union that is able to move forward with different ambitions in terms of integration. "We are firmly convinced of the validity of European project", he stressed, adding that this project "can and must be relaunched". "We will try to move in this direction in Rome". (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)