Mattarella: urgent common European defence, standing still is no longer an option

"These days the Symposium celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first edition and, as every year, the proposed theme - competitiveness - appears high on the agenda of European governments and EU institutions. Moving forward without delay and effectively in this area is widely considered to be an indispensable condition for the further deepening of the continental integration project, the strategic relaunch of the European Union and the preservation of a prosperous economy for its Member States and citizens". So said the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, speaking at the Cotec in Coimbra.

The Head of State added that "our Symposium therefore has the merit of launching a highly topical "Call to Action": it is indeed urgent, I would say priority, for Europe to act, because standing still is no longer an option. The risks of inaction are well identified in the Draghi Report, as in the Letta Report, on the future of the internal market: the hypothetical consequences for Europe, for example in terms of a retreat in the material conditions of widespread prosperity or an irreversible distancing from the technological frontier, would also increase its vulnerabilities on the strategic and geopolitical levels, reducing its ability to counter the current disruptions to the international order. Avoiding such risks is crucial'.

And again. Mattarella quoted Puccini's Turandot - shortly before performed at the Cotec summit in Coimbra - to make full sense of the urgency to act that must increasingly animate European politics. A real 'call to action' by the President of the Republic who spoke after Mario Draghi's relection. "Just now the romance we heard, 'Nessun dorma' could apply to our Union," he explained.

The Common European Defence, for Mattarella, 'well exemplifies the consequences of inaction and unjustified reluctance to proceed along the path of integration'. The President of the Republic recalled that 'the member states have been discussing it for over seventy years. Ever since the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community was signed in Paris in May 1952. This was relaunched, in different and less ambitious forms, between '98 and 2000. It is not difficult to imagine what the state of the Union would be today, in the face of the changed geopolitical context, if we had chosen at the time to take that political leap forward in the integration process. Today we are lagging behind, lagging behind events and we must, consequently, feel the urgency".

We are facing 'a demanding challenge,' Mattarella urged, 'and yet, without underestimating the seriousness of the situation, we have a duty - as well as many good reasons - to remain optimistic. The Union is built on solid foundations: a market economy open to competition and international trade; an independent central banking system; a stable and reliable legal framework; a concept of the rule of law firmly anchored to a convinced democratic tradition; active redistribution policies inspired by the principle of solidarity. We must be proud of this 'European exceptionalism' and build on these assumptions'.