The Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during the meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel put the heaviest cards on the table. The issue of migrants and the creation of a fund dedicated to poverty, with particular attention to minors. During the Franco-German summit in Germany, Merkel and Macron gave important openings to Italian requests.
Merkel agreed on all the points proposed by Giuseppe Conte. The Italian premier also informed the chancellor of his intention to ask the Council at the end of June in Brussels to direct the European funds for the income of citizenship. A fundamental request to allow the M5S government to keep its electoral promises. Two warnings from Giuseppe Conte to Europe. If "European solutions" to the migrant question are not found, the risk is to leave Schengen and block the free movement of people. Then "the Italian expectation" of a reform of the monetary union in the sense of risk sharing because "the convergence of the Euro area is still insufficient". At the base, a single concept, repeated as a refrain over and over again by the previous governments: “Italy cannot be left alone”. Conte and Merkel then agreed on the need to strengthen the "defense of the external borders with Frontex", placing as one of the first objectives the fight against smugglers and the allocation of a fund for Africa. "The EU must combat illicit trafficking in human beings, effectively control external borders and manage problems related to asylum seekers", asked the Italian prime minister and also stressed the need for the whole of Europe to demonstrate "Renewed and concrete solidarity" in Libya, supporting the Libyan authorities in fighting the armed gangs. Finally, priorities for the Prime Minister are social issues and in particular work and the fight against poverty, on which Conte announced to the German Chancellor that his government will promote some important reforms. “When discussing the financial framework, we will make our voices weigh in order to direct European funds towards support measures precisely in favor of social inclusion. The Italian government underlined Giuseppe Conte wants to fight poverty and help the unemployed to re-enter the world of work.
In Italy, the Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini, regardless of criticism, continued to speak to the microphones of Telelombardia about the issue of migrants and the "slow" procedures for identification. In Italy, the head of the Interior Ministry specified, there are about 130 thousand pending cases and it takes us 11 months to start the identification process, compared to six months abroad. Six months may be a reasonable timeframe but staff need to be recruited and landings reduced. Then Salvini focused on the fact of having to reduce spending per migrant. “In Italy we spend 35 euros a day, in all other countries they spend less”. We are working to reduce these 5 billion: let's see if the coop with the heart of gold will continue to welcome them even if we touch some money in their wallet ”, he added. The government's goal, Salvini continued, is to have “more controls, fewer landings, fewer deaths and more expulsions. Europe finally comes back to listen to us, Prime Minister Conte was in Paris last week, then in Berlin. I will meet the Dutch and Austrian ministers and finally everyone is saying that Italy cannot remain alone and that we must control the borders ”. Soon, he concluded, we will also be affected by the government of Malta. “We heard the President of the Maltese Council, who told us 'nobody comes to us'. We will feel it again in the next few hours, because other immigrants will leave. I work day and night so that summer 2018 has fewer deaths, more controls and more expulsions.