Laura Ferrara, an MEP for Italy’s 5 Star Movement, said Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel’s plans to place “illegal migration” at the top of their agenda is laughable.
Italy has been the main recipient of hundreds of migrants each day as they make their way from Africa, and despite continuous calls for the rest of Europe to help the country has for a long time been left on its own to cope.
Writing on 5 Star leader, Beppe Grillo’s blog, Ms Ferrera compared Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel’s announcement yesterday to the EU-Turkey deal which has largely failed.
The deal was meant to stem the flow of migrants entering Europe, mainly through Greece, via Turkey but the agreement has stalled over Turkey’s unwillingness to co-operate despite being given billions of pounds in cash for the deal.
Ahead of yesterday’s meeting in Paris of Europe’s “big four” continental powers – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – and three African nations – Chad, Niger and Libya – Mrs Merkel said Berlin was willing to increase its efforts to stop illegal migration and called on funds to be provided to tackle the problem.
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Mr Macron backed her up, saying all seven nations needed to “act together” to be efficient.
Using the keyboard shortcut for “paste”, Ms Ferrara, wrote: “Here we go again.
“Perched in Paris, so-called European leaders pressed ‘control-v’.
“For Libya the same treatment reserved for Turkey, which translates into money to stop migrants.”
She questioned how the money would be distributed and who would get it, as well as who would ensure the donation is carried out in an “efficient and civilised” manner.
Ms Ferrara, said: “It is not enough to allocate more money, we need clear strategies for serious development co-operation, otherwise the risk is to support, politically and economically, leaders and heads of state that are questionable, to say the least.
“Just as it was done with Turkey: an agreement that has given not only billions, but also credibility and freedom of action to a dictator like Erdogan, who does not lose time to imprison and limit the most basic human and democratic rights.”
She accused Europe of not learning from history, citing former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy’s military intervention in Gaddafi’s Libya in 2011, backed by then Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi and his alliance with Italy’s federalist Lega Nord party.
Ms Fererra said the move was a “springboard for political instability” in Libya and because of that intervention, Italy is now paying a “high price”.
She said yesterday’s announcement by Mr Macron and Ms Merkel will be the “latest fiasco” because their plan does not tackle the root causes of why people are fleeing their own countries.
Ms Fererra said: “Macron wants to militarise areas and make Italians pay the bill for his new interventionism, as Merkel did with Turkey: the agreement signed with Erdogan was funded with €224.9m taken from Italy.
“Not to mention that in less than twenty years since Erdogan’s rise to power, Europe (ie European taxpayers) has already transferred or pledged to allocate to Turkey €36.6billion. The results are obvious.”
She suggested European countries refusing to relocate migrants arriving in Italy should have heavy sanctions imposed on them and called for the scrapping of the Dublin Regulation, where the country in which a migrant arrives in is where they have to apply for asylum.
Ms Fererra said any migrant saved by a ship with a German flag must have their asylum application processed by Germany.
The EU needs to invest to remove the causes of migration and not hand money to African dictatorships or Western multinationals who “exploit resources by further impoverishing citizens”, she said.
And she added arms embargoes must be placed on countries which promote civil wars, including Italy which she said has been in the top ten global weapons producers selling to war-stricken countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East.
The migrant crisis has put Paris and Rome at odds. Italy has accused France and other EU states of not sharing the migrant burden and has also asked the EU Commission for more budget flexibility to help it tackle the crisis.
Nearly 120,000 migrants, including refugees, have entered Europe by sea so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. More than 2,400 have drowned while making the dangerous journey, often without enough food or water in overcrowded dinghies run by people smugglers.
After hosting the leaders of Germany, Italy, Spain, Chad, Niger and Libya, French President Mr Macron said it was time for greater coordination.