The reunion between Renzi, Francois Holland and Angela Merkel took place on the Italian island Ventotene, situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
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“It is the moment to throw old baggage and get ready for new things”, Renzi said, quoting Italian anti-fascist Altiero Spinelli, who is considered one of the founding fathers of European federalism.
“We respect Great Britain’s decision but we also want to make clear that the other 27 are banking on a safe and prospering Europe”, Merkel said at a joint press conference held on the Garibaldi aircraft carrier, a vessel that takes part in Italy’s effort to combat people traffickers.
“Member states must be given time to discuss matters, and prior to the summit in Bratislava, the future of Europe must be discussed with all member states”, she said.
Hollande said Europe was faced with a risk of “fragmentation and division” and needed to focus on three key fronts: the economy, defence and security, including ensuring a prosperous future for the younger generation. “But that is not the case”. They are hoping to forge a common position ahead of a summit of 27 European Union states in Bratislava in September.
For Merkel, the visit to Ventotene marked the start of a string of meetings with other EU leaders to discuss the post-Brexit EU, with visits to Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland in the coming days and meetings with the leaders of Slovakia and Hungary in Warsaw.
But questions of how to bring about prosperity have divided the three countries. It was held before the three leaders actually sat down to talk business. Merkel faces discontent over her controversial decision to let in a million mainly Muslim migrants previous year.
Passporting rules, which allow a bank incorporated in any European Union member state to sell its products and services throughout the integrated economy, are “not negotiable”, he said.
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Italy, the main entry point for Africans but rarely their planned destination, is struggling to house migrants turned back from neighboring countries including France, and disagrees with Germany over how to finance the response. “For security we need to have borders that can be guarded”, Hollande said.
