Introduction by President Meloni

I only have a few minutes as I was already supposed to be at the States General. As far as Italy is concerned, there is much satisfaction regarding the results of this European Council meeting, starting with the issue we had asked to be included as a topic of discussion for the Council: agriculture.
We started with draft conclusions that had already received our approval, making reference to concrete measures in addition to the work the European Commission is doing with particular regard to simplifying the common agricultural policy, supporting supply chains and combating unfair competition.
For us, it was important for the conclusions of the European Council meeting to also include a reference to extending State aid for the agriculture sector, and this reference was indeed included in the Council’s conclusions.
This was one of the main demands also put forward by the trade associations we met with a few weeks ago, as you will remember. I consider this to be a very important step forward. At the next European Council meeting, the European Commission will have to establish further initiatives and forms of support for the agriculture sector, which is currently facing extreme difficulty throughout Europe. Very concrete work has therefore been done, thanks above all to Italy’s efforts.

Likewise, the text of the conclusions regarding migration is also fully satisfactory, with each meeting of the European Council continuing to review the concrete work that is being done on the fight against illegal immigration, on the fight against human traffickers and on the external dimension. The European Council welcomes last week’s initiative in Egypt, in which we played a leading role, and the conclusions of this European Council meeting also include reference to the global alliance against human traffickers. The Commission is urged to keep working on the external dimension, to keep working against human trafficking.

Another significant step forward, also urged by Italy, was made regarding the issue that others define as enlargement and that I call reunification, with particular reference to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As you know, the debate on initiating accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina was a rather complex one. Thanks to the conclusions of this European Council meeting, Sarajevo will be able to begin this process, which is also extremely important for us. You know what Italy’s position is on the accession of the Western Balkans. 
Then the other issues you are aware of. 
Support for Ukraine has been confirmed, with another delicate and important agreement for an additional EUR 5 billion under the European Peace Facility. Finally, there are EU-level conclusions on the issue of the Middle East, which are also the result of long efforts. We have talked about defence and security, as well as greater coordination in this regard, although the issue of resources remains open. I very much agree with the European Commission’s initiative to strengthen the defence industry; the available resources must also then be factored in.
There was a lot of consensus on the proposal to broaden the European Investment Bank’s mandate; this is a step forward and, in my view, further progress can be made, but this is certainly an ongoing discussion. 
This was a very brief summary.

[Courtesy translation]