The Consulate General in Milan, at the heart of a major semester for the community
Between the preparation of the presidential and legislative elections and the involvement of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU in Italy, meeting with François Revardeaux, Consul General in Milan.
For the first time in 14 years, France took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, 2022, for a period of 6 months. remember the priorities announced by the President of the Republic?
Francois Revardeaux: When a country assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union, its role is above all, beyond the organization of meetings, to work out compromises, to issue conclusions, to ensure consistency and continuity of the decision-making process. It ensures good cooperation with all the Member States, without replacing them or taking decisions for them of course, and it manages the Council’s relations with the European institutions, in particular the Commission and the European Parliament.
As the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron expressed, again recently in his speech before the European Parliament on January 19, France will articulate this semester around three priorities – Power, Recovery, Belonging -, three concepts that play on each with others elsewhere.
More specifically, it is about the Power of the EU in the world to defend our interests and our common values, about the Economic Recovery in particular after the pandemic, about questions there too, about shared values and a common culture for the ‘Apartment.
Several reflections will result during this semester, with for example, what is called the “Strategic Compass” which is a kind of European white paper on risks and threats, and how to deal with them.
On recovery issues, the discussions will focus mainly on a new European growth model to make Europe, a model of production and solidarity, one of the main objectives, with regard to the crucial issue of the fight against global warming, for example that of the carbon tax
For Membership, one of the key elements will be the debate on the conclusions of the conference on the future of Europe, open to European citizens, or a major meeting between European universities, to name but a few examples.
For you, in Milan, and as Consul General of France, what does the French Presidency of the Council of the EU (PFUE) represent? How will it translate in Lombardy and in the constituency?
At the level of the whole of Italy, the PFUE will be declined by various actions, delivered by the Embassy of France in Rome. In particular, there is on the program a cycle of dialogues on the Franco-Italian idea of Europe, developed around round tables and debates which will be organized in several cities of the Peninsula, including Milan. The launch event was La Nuit des Idées on January 27, with Milan as the first stop.
The PFUE also involves explaining the priorities of the French presidency during several meetings, as we did recently during an event co-organized with the Alumni of Bocconi and HEC.
I wanted to structure a group of Consuls General of the European Union in Milan
And more generally, I wanted to structure a group of Consuls General of the European Union in Milan, with the aim of fostering a form of consultation and exchanges with the authorities, whether in Lombardy or in other countries. other regions of the constituency.
The first meeting of this group was held on January 10 with the participation of the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala. It was an opportunity to discuss together the European perspectives of Milan and to exchange ideas between the city and the European consuls present in Milan.
One meeting per month is planned, each time in a different place, in the presence of personalities representative of the cultural, industrial or even economic life of the Lombardy region or the district.
Could this group of European Consuls General in Milan be destined to continue?
We had initially set up a group between France, Slovenia, as the outgoing presidency and the incoming presidency, the Czech Republic. The idea now is to bring this new enlarged group to life by planning a dynamic, in the same way that there are meetings of this type in the capitals for the ambassadors, while concentrating on the subjects which are ours, of course , to share our experiences and our practices in the service of our respective communities.
The presidential and legislative elections are approaching. How does the team of the Consulate General of France in Milan prepare as soon as it covers a large constituency?
The elections are a major event for the entire consulate team, but also, and above all, a meeting eagerly awaited by the entire French community of the constituency (Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria, Val d’Aosta, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia).
We are in the middle of the preparation. It is particularly important to remember the possibility of giving power of attorney to a principal. There are several possibilities for this: go to the Consulate General in Milan (by appointment), or go to one of the consular agencies in the district. But beware, only an honorary consul of French nationality is authorized to receive proxies. This is the case in Genoa, Trento, Venice and Aosta. In the cities where the honorary consuls are of Italian nationality and in those which do not have polling stations nearby, we will organize consular tours from mid-February, solely dedicated to the collection of proxies. As a result, it is possible that we have a little less appointment offers on the days when consular tours will be organized, as they mobilize some of the Consulate agents. I know I can count on everyone’s understanding, it’s for the best of causes, which is to allow participation in these major elections.
It is finally possible to start the power of attorney procedure on the site mapprocuration.gouv.frto be done then, only at the consulate general or in a police station/gendarmerie for those who are in France.
As for the electoral system, how will it be organised?
We will establish polling stations in the same cities as in previous polls, namely Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Mestre (Venice), and at the Lycée Français Stendhal for Milan. But we are going to increase the number of offices in Milan and Turin in order to make the passage more fluid.
When you took office last September, one of your major projects was to facilitate access to the consulate to carry out the formalities. How has this priority been implemented?
A few months, we extended the opening hours to provide a greater number of slots and meet the expectations of the French community, and we also extended the appointment period from three to six weeks. We also regularly open new slots, generally in the middle of the week for the coming weeks. This has required and still requires a great mobilization of the consulate teams and I want to salute them again here and pay tribute to them for the work carried out while the requests for appointments remain very strong and that, once again, the prospect of elections are going to be a very demanding time for everyone.
Voting in the presidential and legislative elections in Milan, dates and key points• Dates of the presidential election: April 10 and 24, 2022 |