On 9th July the Ambassador of Italy Giovanni Umberto De Vito was received by the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of the Maltese House of Representatives for an audition on the programme and priorities of Italy’s Presidency of the European Union.
In his speech, the Ambassador insisted on the need to give greater momentum to the integration project of the European Union in such a way as to bring the European institutions closer to the citizens and reconcile fiscal consolidation with policies aimed at economic growth and employment, particularly youth employment.
Ambassador De Vito then pointed out that Italy, one of the founding countries of the European Union, intends giving a Mediterranean perspective to its presidency. Therefore Italy will strive to give the necessary attention to the crises and changes happening in this region as well as find a more efficient and fair management of the growing migratory flows coming from North Africa. In this regard, several members of the Foreign Affairs Committee indicated the centrality of Malta in the question of migration and expressed their strong expectation for a more active role of European institutions in the matter.
The Ambassador highlighted the attention that the Italian Presidency will give to dialogue with the national parliaments with the aim of strengthening the democratic and representative nature of the European Union.
At the end of the audition, the Chairman of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee, the Hon. Luciano Busuttil, while wishing every success for the Italian Presidency and the attainment of concrete results, reaffirmed the spirit of collaboration with which the Maltese members of Parliament view the initiatives and events that will take place during the Italian semester.
To see the video of the audition, click here: http://www.parlament.mt/feac-video
