Brussels, 29/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - During his last visit abroad as President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (his mandate ends in May) made an appeal in Berlin for the creation of European “avant-gardes” that can push further towards European integration when Member States are not unanimous on certain points. At the end of his meeting with his German counterpart Horst Köhler, Mr Ciampi said, “the goal is to go forward as 25 but it is not acceptable that in the absence of unanimity, the European project is misrepresented”. The Italian President affirmed that, “there should therefore be avant-gardes, not as symbols of selfishness or division but of confidence in the capacity to put in practice Europe's potential”. He recalled that there were already “remarkable examples” of such more advanced cooperation between certain countries, such as the Euro-zone, the Schengen agreement (getting rid of internal borders) and the Prüm Agreement (concluded in 2005 between seven countries to fight against illegal immigration). Mr Ciampi concluded that, “avant-garde groups of European progress should remain open to all the other Member States but will be able to attain other concrete objectives that are fundamental for Europe's success”. Ciampi proposed “a European border corps for controlling the EU's external borders”. He added that the next challenges for the European Union were the “indispensable entry into force” of the Constitution, completion of the internal market and implementation of “efficient economic government” alongside the Euro.
President Köhler, anxious about the EU's outward visibility, launched a surprising idea, according to the Italian press, arranging the next European Summit in Shanghai!