The leaders of Germany, France and Italy declared they would not allow Britain’s departure from the EU to propel the bloc into reverse as they discussed plans to deepen intelligence co-operation and bolster a pan-European investment plan.
At a summit on the Mediterranean island of Ventotene, they pledged to address some of the bloc’s most urgent problems by reinforcing European defence, overcoming a refugee crisis and spurring economic growth.
“We think that Europe is not the problem. It’s more the solution,” said Italian premier Matteo Renzi at a press conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president François Hollande on the flight deck of an Italian aircraft carrier.
Almost two months after Britain voted to the leave the EU, the summit was cast as an opportunity for the three largest founder members of the union to declare their common commitment to European integration.
The volcanic island near Naples was specifically chosen for the meeting, the leaders’ second since the Brexit referendum, as a symbolic mark of their joint resolve to stay the course with the EU after the UK voted to leave.
Altiero Spinelli, considered a founding father of the EU, wrote a federalist manifesto when imprisoned on Ventotene during the second world war by Benito Mussolini, Italy’s Fascist dictator.
The three leaders paid homage to Spinelli on the island, laying flowers at his tomb during the course of their visit.
No new initiatives were unveiled after the talks but they resolved to seek an EU agreement next month to intensify and speed up intelligence sharing among member states to counter the threat of Islamist terrorism. They also discussed a plan to boost industrial co-operation among European defence companies.
After a spate of terrorist attacks in France and Germany during the summer, Ms Merkel said critical intelligence gathered by member states must be centrally shared among European partners.
“Faced with terrorism and the civil war in Syria, we must do more for our internal and external security,” the chancellor said. “Defence co-operation must be strengthened and the exchange of intelligence information must be intensified.”
Mr Hollande adopted a similar posture. “If there is one wish we have to share it is to say that Europe must assure its own defence, and France will take its part.”
There was little reference to the Brexit referendum, although Mr Hollande said the result had created uncertainty.
“It’s true that there was a slowdown of growth in the second quarter, and we must quash — as much as possible — all of the uncertainties and give an additional spur [to growth],” he said.
Mr Hollande declined to comment on the declaration of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy of his intention to contest the French presidential election next year.
Faced with terrorism and the civil war in Syria, we must do more for our internal and external security
The three leaders resolved to to prolong a €315bn EU investment plan by two years to 2019 and an enlargement of the plan was also discussed, without agreement as to the scale of any increase.
Numerous political meetings are scheduled in European capitals as leaders prepare for a summit next month in Bratislava of the 27 member states that will remain in the EU after Britain departs — the first fissure in a bloc that has known only expansion and an event that has shaken confidence in its postwar foundations.
While the British vote to leave presents a multiplicity of political, technical and legal problems to European leaders, the three leaders struck a defiant tone at Ventotene as they declared their resolve to continue working together within the EU framework and improve how the union operates.
Despite the leaders’ promise of more action to confront the refugee crisis, their meeting came amid doubts over the sustainability of the EU’s deal with Turkey to curtail the flow of people over the Mediterranean.
There was no direct reference to European tensions with Turkey over its refusal to overhaul domestic terror laws in the wake of the failed military coup last month.
That has led EU leaders to withhold support for an easing of travel restrictions for Turkish citizens, prompting Ankara to say it might renounce the deal. Still, Ms Merkel said the arrangement with Turkey was “a good thing” because the battle against human traffickers could not be won otherwise.
The chancellor was cool on Mr Renzi’s push to boost investment spending against deficit reduction requirements under eurozone budget rules, saying there was sufficient flexibility already in the rule book. Mr Renzi had said Italy’s budget deficit was at its lowest level for 10 years.
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