On 22 and 23 January 2015, the Institute for European Politics (IEP) and the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) held the First German-Italian Dialogue on the Future of Europe at the Residenza di Ripetta in Rome. Under the title ‘Germany and Italy – Partners in Building Europe’, participants from Italy and Germany discussed the role of the European Union, in particular Germany and Italy, in overcoming the current economic, energy policy and foreign policy challenges and in shaping and orienting the future of Europe.
The German-Italian Dialogue brought together high-ranking representatives from politics, business and academia, as well as young scientists and young professionals, to discuss European solutions to the current challenges from a German and Italian perspective. As core members of the European Union, both countries share a special responsibility for the cohesion of the community in times of crisis, which is manifested in the close ties between the two countries in terms of content, values and long-standing relations.
With questions about a common European strategy to strengthen the European economy, deal with the challenges in Eastern Europe and shape further steps towards integration, e.g. in the form of an energy union, the dialogue covered a wide range of topics over the two days.
The Secretary General of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Rome, Michele Valensise, Martina Nibbeling-Wrießnig (Minister and Head of the Economic, Financial and Social Affairs Department, Deputy Head of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Rome) and Claudia Dörr-Voß (Ministerial Director, Head of the European Policy Department, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Berlin) opened the conference by emphasising the importance of these problem analyses against the backdrop of the ECB's decision to implement quantitative easing, which was announced at the same time as the conference, the resurgence of unrest in Ukraine, the upcoming elections in Greece and the associated uncertainty about the future development of the eurozone and the EU as a whole.
Author: Josefa Glass
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