Issue of migrants on the borders, Libya dossier and Palermo summit of 12 and 13 November, Italian economic maneuver, these are the hot topics that razor relations between Italy and France.
Competition and tensions, however, start from afar as Corriere della Sera writes, from the Telecom, Mediaset, Mediobanca, Generali affair to the Fincantieri affair in the controversial merger with Naval Group.
Greater evidence of the strange relations between Italy and France (often speaking of French cousins) came during a recent meeting organized by the Aspen Institute Italia in Rome.
An interesting meeting between Italian and French politicians, entrepreneurs and academics, guest and exceptional speaker, Moscovici.
The most striking note of the debate came when it came to direct investments. According to Istat data, the French acquisitions in Italy recorded a value of 71,9 billion euros, followed by the British with 53,6 billion, the Germans with 40,1 billion and the US with 12,2 billion.
Italian direct investments abroad, on the other hand, mark the value of 33,5 billion in France, 44,7 billion in Germany, 33,4 billion in the United States and 28 billion in Great Britain.
According to the ministry of economic development, Italian companies in France control 1.500 companies for a total of 67 transalpine employees. The French entrepreneurs do not show any complaints to the Italian property, unlike what happens, instead, in Italy.
In the Aspen Institute conference it emerged that Italian entrepreneurs are cautious in having to integrate with the French while they are more inclined towards German companies which, objective elements in hand, would seem to appreciate Made in Italy with much more confidence.
In short, it seems that the competition between the two of the strongest economies in the euro zone will never end, but will increasingly tend to grow, in light of the new challenges in foreign policy.