Paris, 2 December – The EU Italian Presidency is “convinced” that Saturday’s initiatives in Naples on “structured cooperation” in defence and for writing a mutual defence clause into the future European Constitution will lead to a compromise in tune with both European interests and those of the Atlantic Alliance, said Roberto Antonione, Italy’s Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

In his address to the WEU Assembly, Mr Antonione expressed the view that Defence Europe was taking a significant step forward in relation to the ESDP by introducing structured cooperation that was inclusive, open and compatible with transatlantic structures. “We all agree that a common defence clause would be inadmissible if it led to divisions among EU members or damaged the Atlantic Alliance by weakening it. Italy is convinced that a compromise can be found that makes it possible to construct an institutional system which strikes a genuine balance between European autonomy and transatlantic unity”, he said.

According to Mr Antonione the EU had to have a degree of autonomy, some possibility of responding, without calling the Atlantic Alliance into question. “Cooperation with NATO must go on at the political as well as military levels with a view to complementarity and mutual reinforcement”.

The Minister also maintained that the Italian Presidency wanted “as far as possible to safeguard the progress made at the European Convention. An ambitious agreement which met the requirements and expectations of the enlarged Union could not be arrived at with a text that departed to any extent from that of the present draft Constitution”.