Three key EU leaders are set to meet to discuss how the EU should react to the UK referendum vote to exit from the EU.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will gather on an Italian island on Monday. They are the representatives of the EU’s three biggest economies.
That meeting comes three weeks in advance of an informal EU summit in Bratislava which is intended to discuss the EU’s course after Brexit. The UK is not included in this discussion.
The Italian island of Ventotene off Naples was chosen for the meeting because of its place in the history of the EU.
During WWII it was used as a prison for political opponents of Italy’s fascist regime. While imprisoned there, Ernesto Rossi and Altiero Spinelli co-authored the “Ventotene Manifesto” calling for a European federation to bind countries together and prevent war.
Many view the manifesto as a prime force of the movement for European unification.
The three leaders held their first post-referendum meeting in June after which they called for “a new impulse” for the EU. Last month, Renzi said the UK’s decision showed that urgent change was needed.
