European Interest

Italy calls for ‘more democratic’ EU base

Flickr/Martin Schulz/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
According to the Italian President Sergio Mattarella EU institutions should have a more democratic base.

European Union institutions should have a more democratic base, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said on a visit to Dublin on February 14. He also said Italians’ trust in the EU must be restored.

“The consensus of the Italians towards Europe has diminished in these years and it must be restored,” Mattarella said after talks with Irish counterpart Michael Higgins. “We must seize the opportunity to do so in this window that is opening from now until the European elections of 2019.”

As reported by the Italian news agency ANSA, he also stressed that “EU institutions must have a more democratic base and must guarantee work and future for young people who must be put at the centre of European policies”.

According to Matterella, the problem of migrant repatriation is one shared by the entire EU. “Those who think the problem of immigration only concerns Mediterranean countries are wrong,” he said. “It will soon concern all of Europe.”

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