PARIS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron and visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni vowed to boost integration of the European bloc to tackle immigration crisis and bridge gaps among the economies of the single-currency zone.
After a working dinner at the Elysee Palace on Sunday, Macron called for deeper European integration to handle flows of migrants that flooded European states, especially Italy and Greece.
"We did not quite hear the warnings that Italy sent us. I want us to address a real reform of the right of asylum and of our current regulations to better protect those countries most subject to this migratory pressure," he said.
In a long-term, Macron expects to draw up a roadmap aimed to better improve integration among European member countries via "the creation of a common budgetary capacity, a real Europe and a real euro area of investment that will reduce the divergence among our economies, which has created financial tensions."
"France wishes to work very closely with Italy, Germany, with all the countries that share our values and wants to move forward in this direction to a real revival of our European perspectives," he said.
In a joint statement, Macron pledged to reinforce rules to protect workers against social dumping and enhance regulations on public procurement.
Macron and Gentiloni will meet again on May 26-27 at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Taormina, Sicily, Italy, where leaders of the seven richest states will gather to discuss climate, international security, migration and international trade.
Italy assumed the rotating presidency of the G7 this year. The group comprises the world's seven major developed countries -- the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
