Italy — along with Greece — has borne the brunt of the European migrant crisis.
Tens of thousands of migrants have arrived in Italy over the past two years — many making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea in overcrowded or unsuitable boats.
The Garibaldi — although a military vessel — is being used to support the EU's Operation Sophia — the anti-migrant smuggling project.
Merkel, Hollande and Renzi will be meeting here today on #Brexit pic.twitter.com/wM3YZ6ze4g
— Lorena de la Cuesta (@LorenadlaCuesta) August 22, 2016
The EU has struggled to get agreement on relocating migrants from Italy and Greece, with only around 4,000 relocations in a year. There are deep divisions within the EU over relocation, with some countries opposed to a mandatory quota system.
Divided Europe
The EU is also struggling to keep the Eurozone single currency area together, with both Spain and Portugal escaping fines for failing to keep their deficits within EU limits and Italy managing to secure extra budget flexibility from the European Commission over its failure to bring down its debts fast enough.
Following the decision by the UK to exit the EU, the remaining 27 states will have to negotiate a new relationship with the UK, against a backdrop of growing euroskepticism across the whole of Europe. In Italy itself, there is public anger at the harsh treatment Rome has had from Brussels over its domestic fiscal policies and many see the issue as being a north-south divide within the Eurozone.
The migrant crisis is also splitting the EU, with many countries — especially in Eastern Europe — opting to close their borders, damaging the Schengen area — the internal borderless zone within the EU — and exposing deep divisions within the EU and putting at risk one of the central tenets of the EU — the freedom of movement of people.
The venue for the Italy-France-German meeting — the island of Ventotene — was where the imprisoned politicians Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi wrote the Ventotene Manifesto in June 1941, calling for the creation of a federal Europe, preventing another world war.
This time, the Venotene summit may pave the way for a new EU, formulated around Brexit, creating a new basis for EU membership for every member state, accepting divisions over fiscal policy, the single currency, Schengen and immigration.
