The planned summit in Toulouse, first reported by POLITICO, was meant to be a major display of Franco-Italian friendship and to mend the troubled transalpine relationship by gathering the two leaders and key ministers to discuss common policy priorities.
France and Italy haven’t held a high-level bilateral summit since 2020, when then-Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte met with Macron in Naples. The Toulouse summit would be the first one since the signature of the Quirinale Treaty between Rome and Paris and since Meloni’s election.
Macron and Meloni have so far clashed on a range of topics spanning from migration to the rule of law.
Tensions flared again last Thursday, when Macron criticized Meloni for for saying that the killing of 23-year-old far-right activist Quentin Deranque in Lyon last weekend was “a wound for the whole of Europe.”
Meloni said she was “surprised” by Macron’s reaction, clarified that she didn’t mean to interfere with France’s internal affairs and, in return, rehashed previous spats, such as when the French government said it would monitor rule of law in Italy days after Meloni’s election win.
At the same time, Meloni over the past weeks has gotten increasingly close with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with the two holding a bilateral summit in Rome last month, and defending a more trade-friendly economic agenda, less focused on the French push for “Made in Europe” rules.
The postponement of the Toulouse summit was first reported earlier Saturday by Italian daily IlSole24ore.