Brussels, 29/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The new President of the Council of Italian Ministers, Romano Prodi came to Brussels on Monday to explain to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, Italy's “priority of priorities in Europe”. During a joint press conference with Mr Barroso at the Commission he himself presided from 1999-2005, Mr Prodi declared, “Italian policy will resume the role it has traditionally played in the European institutions”. He also asserted, “Italy is side by side with the Commission. Italy is well aware of the role is has to play in the future of the European institutions”. The future of Europe and the EU's constitutional problem were at the centre of the “exclusively political” exchange of views between the two men (the delicate question of Italian public finances was not raised, according to Mr Barroso). Mr Prodi averred that, “We have now gone through the deepest crisis of Euro-scepticism and I agree with Mr Barroso in saying that the worst is behind us”. Nonetheless, this resumption should be done coherently. Europe needs countries that will pull it forward and it also needs a timetable”. On the European Constitution, Mr Prodi said that it would “be almost impossible to have the same Constitution approved” as that rejected by the French and Dutch, “but we now need to think about what kind of Constitution we want and simplify the text so that we get consensus in all Member States. We cannot risk having a second 'no' to the Constitution because Europe needs to make progress”. In the meantime, Mr Prodi explained that they needed to go forward and “I have approved all the drafts (that the Commission proposed) for obtaining a Europe of results”. He shares the Commission's opinion that “it is necessary to demonstrate to citizens that Europe works” and that, “even without a Constitution, we are able to make progress”, by, for example, in the areas of energy, research, etc. This is very important because the new draft Constitution has to be presented “in a more optimistic, more creative and more cooperative light”. Enlargement and the EU's capacity of absorption were also discussed. Mr Prodi highlighted the “importance of including the Balkan countries in the EU”. He averred that all these countries had to respect accession criteria and that the process could be continued as, “the European Union's capacity of absorption should allow this enlargement process to be produced in the future”. Mr Prodi concluded that “citizens and Member States need confidence in the future of Europe. This is the main message I brought to Brussels”.
José Manuel Barroso informed the press, “I am expecting a lot of cooperation between the European Commission and Italy as we relaunch our European project”. The President of the Commission said that “since the beginning of the European Community, Italy has worked ceaselessly towards putting this great European project into practice”. Mr Barroso explained that Italy now had an essential role to play for relaunching the European idea “as Europe needs Italy, just as Italy needs Europe”. He was delighted that the new Italian government had provided “very clear signs on the priority it gave to Europe”. Mr Barroso also congratulated Mr Prodi for having chosen Brussels and the Commission as the destination for his first journey as new Head of the Italian government, “I am certain that Romano Prodi…will be a reliable ally in sensitive domains such as neighbourhood policy, enlargement, notably towards the Balkans, the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, as well as the Constitutional process”. He added that, “today, there is a very important task facing Europe”: “adding the pessimism of Pan-European supporters to traditional Euro-scepticism, now has to be avoided at all costs”. In reply to a question from a French journalist both Mr Prodi and Mr Barroso underlined the current weight France had in European affairs. Mr Prodi said that, “France is absolutely necessary. Without France, there is no chance of going forward in Europe” and Mr Barroso stated, “without France, there is no Europe”. Mr Prodi (who also met Prime Minister Verhofstadt on Monday) also announced that he would be meeting Tony Blair on 2 June in Rome and that he would be going to Berlin to hold talks with Angela Merkel just before the European Council of 15-16 June.