MNI SOURCES: Italy To Embrace Post-Brexit Cooperation With UK

--All Thorny Issues Need To Be Settled Before 2019 EP Elections

--EU-UK "Strategic" Partnership Must Be Reinforced

--Two Sides Bound to Grow "Together, Side-by-Side"

By Silvia Marchetti

     ROME (MNI) - Despite the stalemate in the first phase of Brexit

negotiations, several top Italian officials have told Market News that they are

still looking forward to a future era of strategic cooperation with the UK,

whilst calling for a rapid way forward from the current impasse. 

     Lia Quartapelle, Democrat leader of the Lower House foreign affairs

committee, said it is "crucial that we not only maintain a good relationship

with London, but we must work to make it stronger than it ever was. Leaving the

bloc does not mean putting an end to decades of close relations, nor erasing

history".

     On the other hand, she argued, the UK's departure made it paramount for the

European Union to boost cooperation by paving the way to a "strategic

partnership with London's government on key global issues that have always been

a pillar of European and British policy objectives".

     "From the battle against climate change to fighting international

terrorism, from immigration to investing resources in developing countries, I

hope we -- Italy and Europe -- can build a privileged partnership with London

that can stand the test of time, no matter its exit from the union," argued

Quartapelle. 

     A government source stressed that the next couple of weeks will be crucial

in moving financial settlement negotiations between Brussels and London forward,

and expressed confidence that a solution will be reached to the benefit of both

sides. 

     "Once London is out of the big European picture, this makes it even more

important that both the UK and Europe continue to grow together, side-by-side,

and not in antagonism with one another," the source said. 

     "Europe's economy, and the UK's, must both strengthen in a parallel way,

because paradoxically we still need each other, that is why we must keep London

as close as possible to us," he added. 

     Despite acknowledging that it was too soon to determine what kind of future

trade deals there will be between the two parties, the source stressed that "we

are both compelled to grow in unison". 

     Italy, especially, is concerned in keeping good trade links, as the UK

market remained crucial for Italian exports. 

     "Italian interests are focused on continuing to have excellent political

and commercial relations with the UK, by attempting to keep exports-imports at

recent or current levels," said the official. 

     "We export to the UK more than we import, so the balance of trade is in

Italy's favour. If Brexit means severing all ties between London, Brussels and

the single member states, it wouldn't just be Italy who lose, we would all lose.

It would be a huge defeat for everyone," he warned. 

     According to Giampaolo Galli, a Democrat member of the Lower House budget

committee and a former director at Italy's top trade union Confindustria,

keeping London as close as possible to the single market is "extremely

important" and of reciprocal interest. 

     "Italian business shares the same view of the Confederation of British

Industry (CBI), and I expect that this common priority will support phase two

negotiations," said Galli.  

     The government source argued that is paramount to quickly end phase one of

negotiations so to move on to phase two, the definition of future trade ties,

which might take years to complete but should at least be launched by early

2019. 

     The tight timeline reflects a key electoral deadline across Europe, said

the official, which is the election of the next European parliament and the

nominations for new EU institutions, which will not feature any UK

representatives. 

     "This means we only have little more than year to settle Brexit once and

for all, solving all thorny issues. Then we must start to set-out rough

guidelines for future trade relations and launch talks on this. So there really

is little time in hand," he said. 

     Despite the UK government's resolution, an "underground" hope survives in

Rome that the UK might take a sudden step back and reconsider its exit despite

knowing " this would never happen", the source said, adding "that in politics,

however, you never know what's next". 

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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