The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, advocated a Europe that protects the dignity of individuals, in particular through "European unemployment insurance" and the introduction of a "European minimum wage", in a letter to the daily La Repubblica published on Tuesday, 19 March.
On the migration issue, Mr Conte is of the opinion that Member States must manage migration flows within the framework of a "shared responsibility" and "based on solidarity and cohesion". A new equal partnership with Africa is also desirable, he said, particularly to stimulate economic growth on the continent and contribute to its stability.
On EU-China relations, a subject on the agenda of the European Summit (see other news), the Italian Prime Minister again calls for collaboration between equal partners, but "without giving way on our values and principles or questioning our historical rules and alliances".
While the EU is trying to define an ambitious and coordinated approach towards China in view of the bilateral summit on Tuesday 9 April, Italy would move towards concluding a bilateral agreement with Beijing aimed at attracting more investment in the framework of the New Silk Road ('One Road, One Belt') project.
As for the question of the democratic legitimacy of the European project, Mr Conte would like the European Parliament, as the only European institution elected by universal suffrage, to be better able to hold the other EU institutions to account and to have greater powers, in particular "a power of legislative initiative and investigation".
See the letter from Mr Conte: http://bit.ly/2TWwTBM. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)