Ministers Bruno Le Maire and Giovanni Tria met in Rome today to discuss bilateral economic and financial questions as well as their common priorities for the European Union’s work in their respective fields.
On the European agenda, they shared common views on the need to improve the functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union, along the lines agreed by the heads of States at the June Euro Summit. The EMU should be an area of greater stability, growth and jobs for all its citizens. Both Ministers agreed that closer cooperation between their two Ministries and more intense and regular exchanges between their teams would help to progress and prepare decisions for the Euro Summit in December in this regard. The Ministers agreed to prioritize work on the completion of all aspects of the Banking Union and the creation of a Euro area budget to ensure greater stabilization and convergence within the euro area.
Furthermore, they reiterated their commitment to a rapid adoption of the European Commission’s proposal for a digital services tax by the end of 2018 in order to start tackling the issues raised by the taxation of the digital economy. They agreed this was of utmost importance for citizens and would ensure greater fairness and efficiency. They also agreed to redouble efforts to ensure swift progress on the much needed harmonization of corporate tax bases in Europe, by quickly adopting the CCTB directive. This will enhance transparency, reduce compliance costs and simplify red tape for companies all over Europe, especially SMEs.
Regarding Les Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and the work undertaken by Naval Group and Fincantieri, the two Ministers reiterated their commitment to the alliance roadmap of September 2017.
Based on the details recently provided to the two Governments on their industrial project by Fincanteri and Naval Group - whose significant work they welcomed - the two Ministers, together with the Italian Minister of Economic Development and the Italian and French Ministers for Defence, will take stock of progress made.