The appeal to republican unity of a European grand commis: divisive themes were silenced and parties involved

19 February 20213 years ago babelfish

I will perhaps be one of the few who were not thrilled by the communications made by Mario Draghi to the Senate of the Republic. It can be taken for granted that a European grand commis was speaking to the brain and not to the belly, as is accused of doing to that political party exorcised as populist; but halfway between that and this there is the heart, which, as Pascal said, still has its reasons. With that little experience accumulated in more than half a century, trying to be followed by many dozens and sometimes hundreds of students, albeit with varying luck, it comes naturally to me to observe how to read without ever detaching from the written page, even just to drink a glass of water, always keeping the same cadence of voice, avoiding any hint of good rhetoric, can only give a feeling of cold, so perceived by the senatorial audience, which certainly did not waste itself in engaging applause. It will be said that, regardless of the character of Mario Draghi, this would still have been an obligatory choice, given the composition of his potential majority, as large as it is colorful; but the question does not concern today, but tomorrow, when the Prime Minister will have to communicate with the country, because he will certainly not be able to remain silent, leaving an empty space, filled by the cacophonic noise of the various parties.

The appeal to unity was taken for granted, not in the name of the nation, a word now destined to divide rather than unite, especially in the all-encompassing perspective of a Europe with strong federal integration; but in the name of the Republic, with implicit reference to the first article of the Constitution, which, however, is extremely dear to the populists, since it says that "sovereignty belongs to the people". Now, the use of this term, Repubblica, although back in fashion with neo-republicanism, under the banner of freedom / participation, recalls clearly conservative historical experiences, starting with the model constituted by the American Grand Old Party ; and, in a recent document signed by many French intellectuals, he values the idea of a common homeland, recalling to the ear the famous formula of De Gaulle of the Europe of the homelands. What good is it then? It is not difficult to understand, if we keep in mind in which historical context it is placed, that not so much of the immediate collapse of the fascist regime, but of the reconstruction of the country, which would have been achieved with a single united push of all political forces, a blatant false historical in full continuity with the other of an Italy liberated from the armed struggle of the partisan formations. All flour from the sack of a left brought to adapt the story to its size. The reconstruction was the work of the DC and its allies, with fierce opposition from the PCI, conducted in total dependence on the Soviet Union, against the Marshall Plan, NATO, the European Community. But Salvini himself fell there, forced to look for something in our past that could justify a coexistence that was considered to be completely against nature.

Mario Draghi found it pretty ready and used it. But if there is a refractory force to drown its own identity first of all by contrast with a right that is always represented as incognita, it is our left, which certainly is not at ease at all in a neutral and aseptic notion such as that provided by the word Repubblica, so much so that Mario Draghi's speech preceded the creation of an intergroup in the Senate, including 5 Stars, Pd and Leu, in the name of a frontal opposition to the center-right. Of course Zingaretti continues to cultivate the idea of a competitive alliance in view of the next elections, municipal tomorrow and the political day after tomorrow. But it does so at the cost of renouncing to give itself a precise programmatic physiognomy, which could annoy the 5 Stars, now in full gaseous state. I repeat what I have already had the opportunity to write, the good secretary of the party claims to have checked Renzi's mate, preventing him from achieving the goal attributed to him to break the intimate relationship between Pd and 5 Stars. But if, on the other hand, the goal pursued by the senator of Rignano had been to make that relationship even more intimate, which, once, led by the people's advocate ready to take the field, would have more than likely led to a bleeding of Pidiessino electorate, with the consequent retirement of the naive Zingaretti?

Already that I have mentioned it, I seem to be able to resume what was anticipated about the program that Draghi would have presented, not only for what is now inside, where everyone will look for his own, making me already anticipate how much the progressive mass media will gossip about the hints the irreversibility of the euro and the progressiveness of the tax authorities; but, first of all , for what there is little or nothing at all. Europe's profession of faith is full and unconditional, with the explicit mention of a greater integration implemented with transfers of sovereignty, which finds its exemplification in the constitution of a single budget, which, in order not to be utopian, can only concern a enlargement of the current Community budget. Not a word on the European reforms under discussion, such as the total overcoming of the unanimity rule in the Council and the enlargement of the weight of Parliament; but not even on a very topical issue, such as that of the revision of the Stability Pact, currently suspended due to the pandemic.

On the package of constitutional changes warmly sponsored by Zingaretti, with regard to constructive confidence, the correction of perfect bicameralism, nothing at all, since it would have been scarcely realistic and highly divisive to put them on the agenda. Absolute silence on the electoral law, which Conte would have liked to be proportional to motivate the transhumance of the so-called centrists; right, because it is a game to let Parliament play, where the positions between proportionalists and majority members appear to be rebalanced today.

In the same prudential line, which reveals the political subtlety in the former president of the European Central Bank, none of the great identity and therefore divisive themes have been evoked, not the ESM, not the citizenship income, not the hundred quota, not the prescription, not the election of the members of the CSM; even if these issues are addressed, they will be diluted within more general interventions. While the attention to the tax authorities was completely obvious, with the involvement of a commission of experts, for civil justice, for the public administration. In my opinion, typical issues for the formulation of proxy laws, which would allow Parliament to predetermine the principles and guiding criteria, then leaving the executive to draft the relative decree, making the most of the best skills provided by civil society.

The focal points were those foreseeable, starting with the fight against the virus, with recourse to the now classic combination of mitigation and vaccination, without, however, letting anything transpire about the fate of the much discussed Arcuri; but only by letting a kind of self-criticism emerge about the recent closure of the ski lifts made at the last moment. There is no doubt that this remains the most important game, given that it is necessary to pay for the shortcoming of the European Commission in the negotiations with the manufacturers of vaccines and the extreme slowness of the vaccination operation, which, from about 70-80 thousand daily doses, should rise. to 300-400 thousand.

Following, the preparation of the Next Generation EU program, to be submitted to the European Commission by the end of April, of which Draghi acknowledged the work already done by the previous government, but immediately clarifying who would be in charge of it: the minister of economy. The problem will certainly not be constituted by the timely and correct compliance with this appointment, but by the subsequent implementation, with reforms not only of the bureaucratic competences and procedures, but of the administrative and criminal jurisdictions themselves, limiting their all-out incursions with paralyzing effects.

To close, the problem of employment, with particular attention to that of women and youth, without, however, addressing the intertwining between the revision of social safety nets and the blocking of dismissals, which currently finds employers' organizations on opposing fronts and of workers. But, for now, the answer can only be cyclical, because the recovery will take time, at the cost of a very strong and heavy restructuring of the productive reality. It will be this that will bring to the fore the question already raised within the Eurogroup regarding the distinction between companies that were decocted or healthy on the eve of the pandemic, the former to be allowed to sink, the latter to help re-emerge. Draghi's own distinction between bad and good debt, made in Community law also by the prohibition of state aid, should be recovered; but this would mean stopping or reversing the tendency of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to transform itself into a new version of the IRI, with the sure opposition of the Confederal trimurti, CGIL, CISL, UIL.

Draghi said that his government does not need adjectives, it is the government of the country, he spoke of a "republican spirit". But this does not at all exclude that it is composed of a “technical” presence, linked by close trust with the Prime Minister and a party presence, carefully balanced on the basis of parliamentary consistency, correlated with the various forces of the very large majority. Now two possible interpretations of the tactics that Draghi will follow have been put forward: the first is to operate through the technical component, not for nothing called upon to cover the most important ministries, marginalizing the party component; the second is to enhance the party component itself, involving it in the reforms. Of course, the choice depends on the objectives pursued, if they are only or mainly emergency, with mainly short-term operational implications, the first option may be sufficient; if, on the other hand, they are also structural, with legislative implications, it is clear that the second option is required. And it is the latter that is not only more consistent with the composition of the government, but also more responsive to Mario Draghi's report, with his explicit request to count on full parliamentary collaboration, given the breadth of his programmatic proposal.

On the other hand, there is nothing more dangerous than leaving a parliament inactive, choosing what the government can have its say on, relying on the authority enjoyed by its party ministers with reference to their respective groups; and what it shouldn't do, leaving room for parliamentary initiative and dynamics. A difficult balancing act that Draghi can certainly be credited with, for him and for his high protector, the President of the Republic; but not without a bit of luck, especially on the first front line, that of the battle against the pandemic.

The post The appeal to republican unity of a European grand commis: divisive issues silenced and parties involved appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/lappello-allunita-repubblicana-di-un-grand-commis-europeo-taciuti-i-temi-divisivi-e-coinvolti-i-partiti/ on Thu, 18 Feb 2021 05:06:00 +0000.