II. MAJOR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS TO BE DEVELOPED
The two major defining partnerships mentioned above must remain open to other countries and are obviously not exclusive of other partnerships, which France must strive to strengthen and promote.
A. ITALY, A BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP TO BE CONSOLIDATED
1. A substantial amount of common ground
As your rapporteurs pointed out in their introduction above, Italy is a striking example of a country with which we have a long-standing relationship of friendship and cooperation in defence matters that must never be overshadowed by the difficulties arising from the strained relations between the two countries' current governments. In fact, these difficulties have nothing to do with defence issues, with regard to which relations between the two countries are both long-standing and quite good.
France has several reasons to seek to deepen its partnership with Italy in defence matters. First of all, it is a major stakeholder in European defence . A founding member of the European Union, Italy is also one of its most populous countries, with a population of more than 60 million and a GDP that ranks eighth in the world. In addition, according to SIPRI, Italy's defence budget is the 12 th largest in the world.
In addition to the size and importance of the country, the second obvious reason for the close relations between France and Italy in security and defence matters is their geographical proximity : the two countries share both land and sea borders, and both must always keep an eye on the situation in the Mediterranean and North Africa. From this perspective, of the European nations, Italy is quite clearly one for which the threat is perceived as more acute on the southern front than on the eastern front.
Unfortunately, though, it is precisely in this domain that tensions have emerged between Italy and its European partners, particularly with regard to the management of migrants collected in the framework of operation SOPHIA. Though the discussion falls outside the scope of this work, we observe in passing that unfortunately the European countries have in general shown little solidarity with their southern European partners, who have found themselves alone on the front lines, managing the arrival of migrants in tragic conditions. Migration flows are obviously an issue that affects us all, all the more so since the intended final destination of these migrants generally tends to be Northern Europe , with the Southern countries figuring into their plans only as an entry point to the continent. Your rapporteurs hope that this moment of tension can be promptly overcome so that operation SOPHIA can become fully effective again. This is all the more important as the issue of large-scale migratory movements remains fundamentally unsettled. It is indeed likely that it is just getting started, since there is a major development gap between Europe and these migrants' countries of origin.
Italy also shares with France its pragmatic approach to military operations. Although Article 11 of the Italian Constitution states that “Italy rejects war as a means for settling conflicts,” the Italian army still harbours the memory of a military operational culture, which constitutes an asset for European defence. This is shown in particular by its formidable efficiency in logistics and support operations .
2. Various areas of excellence
a) A significant engagement in external operations
Italy currently has between 6,000 and 7,000 troops assigned to external missions, a large figure when compared for example to the 3,500 German troops currently deployed. Italy has a small detachment assigned to Niger, for instance, currently consisting of about one hundred troops, but this number is likely to come to around 300 personnel by the end of 2019.
There are another 6,000 troops assigned to the Italian equivalent of Operation Sentinelle (Operation Strade Sicure ). Insofar as this operation provides for a permanent military presence, Italy is interested in the operational experience gained from Operation Sentinelle.
Italy has a significant defence budget, amounting to approximately €24 billion. It should be noted that of this amount, €6 to €7 billion are allocated to the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza , which includes the customs police.
b) A Navy that is essential to the security of the Mediterranean
The Italian navy plays an important role in ensuring collective security in the Mediterranean, as evidenced by the responsibilities assigned to Italy in Operation SOPHIA: the commander of the operation and the third-in-command are both Italian. The geographical location of Italy necessarily makes it a key player in surveillance and security for the Mediterranean.
As illustrated by the role of second-in-command of the SOPHIA operation, entrusted to a French admiral, the cooperation between Italian and French navies is quite good. 65 ( * )
c) An important stakeholder in the EDTIB
The Italian DTIB is dynamic and varied. Its areas of excellence include:
- naval, as illustrated by the merger between Fincantieri and Naval Group;
- aeronautics, in particular including vast experience in helicopters, but also in missiles, with its participation in MBDA;
- space.
The beginning of closer relations between France and Italy in the naval domain is of particular interest. Though this is a complex movement, the potentialities of which remain to be confirmed, we note that this may be the first step in a comprehensive consolidation of European naval industry. In fact, both civil and military shipbuilding is subject to particularly acute competition from non-European actors. It is therefore important for European companies to join forces, rather than divide and compete for contracts as they currently do. 66 ( * )
Your rapporteurs therefore express the hope that peace will soon be restored to the bilateral relationship, and that defence relations will be able to accomplish further progress.
* 65 Italian-French cooperation has also been established in the terrestrial domain; it is less developed but good quality, especially in regard to mountain troops.
* 66 It is quite unfortunate from this perspective that the German firm TKMS is for the time being completely opposed to a merger with Naval Group. The two companies thus remain in fierce and costly competition.