France and Italy signed a bilateral treaty for enhanced cooperation with great ceremony in Rome this Friday to strengthen a relationship that has been tested in recent years by a diplomatic dispute and amidst a transitional context in Europe with Angela Merkel’s departure. The treaty was initialed at the Quirinal Presidential Palace by French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, in the presence of Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
This “treaty for enhanced bilateral cooperation,” known as the Quirinal Treaty, is rare in Europe: it is only the second treaty signed by France after the Élysée Treaty, initialed in 1963 with Germany, and supplemented by the Aachen Treaty in 2019.
