Ontmoeting minister Blok met Italiaanse collega Moavero Milanesi
Gemeenschappelijke verklaring van minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Stef Blok en de Italiaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken en Internationale Samenwerking Enzo Moavero Milanesi. Ze spraken vandaag in Den Haag over de samenwerking tussen beide landen in zowel EU- als internationaal verband.
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Stef Blok, met today in The Hague. The meeting allowed a broad exchange of views on the two countries’ cooperation at both European and international level.
Concerning the European Union agenda and notably the Letter of Intent recently issued by the European Commission, the two Ministers agree that many urgent challenges can only be tackled jointly in a European context. In this context they also agree that action should be undertaken at EU level only when the set objectives are better achieved at that level rather than at the national one. In this context, the impact of every initiative should be rigorously assessed from an economic, social, and environmental point of view, also taking into account the local perspective. Our common effort is to ensure the transparency and effectiveness of the EU decision-making process and bring it closer to citizens.
The Ministers also reaffirm that Italy and the Netherlands, as EU founding countries, will collaborate in order to strengthen the European Union as a genuine ‘Community of values’, with freedom, democracy, fundamental rights, and abidance with the Rule of Law at its core.
With reference to the migration issue, they stress the importance and urgency to implement the full Conclusions of the last European Council in June 2018. They also agreed to continue efforts towards Libya, including during the Libya Conference that Italy is hosting in the second half of 2018. Italy and the Netherlands call on all EU Member States to share the responsibility for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, and to pursue work on tackling the root causes of migration and reforming the European Asylum System, pursuant to the principles of solidarity and loyal cooperation. Accordingly, the Union should adopt an appropriate stable reallocation mechanism, based on clear commitments. At the same time, the two Ministers stressed the need for Member States to counter also secondary movements and to closely cooperate amongst each other to that end.
Ahead of the negotiations for the next European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework, the two Ministers agree on the need to monitor closely the EU spending quality.
They also support the relaunch of the EU policy for cooperation and development, notably in Africa. Countries of origin and transit of migrants require particular attention in the context over the overall EU external policy.
The Ministers finally agree that both Italy and the Netherlands rely on a well-functioning Single market. They also confirm that they will continue to collaborate on the issues under the scrutiny of the Security Council, where the two Countries share a non-permanent seat for 2017-18.