State aid, immigration: what Italy achieved at the European Council (according to Meloni)
According to President Meloni, the extraordinary European Council was very positive for Italy. Here is what has been decided on state aid for businesses and on immigration management
"I am very happy with the results obtained by Italy in this European Council", said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the opening of the press conference following the extraordinary European Council of 9 and 10 February.
"Very important steps forward have been made on some particularly delicate matters". Three were those under discussion: Ukraine; aid to European industry in the light of US and Chinese subsidies ; immigration.
MELONI: ITALY AND THE EU WILL STAY AT UKRAINE'S SIDE FOR AS LONG AS NECESSARY
The first was the Ukrainian affair, "which yesterday saw the important presence of President Zelensky". “The image of compactness that has been given”, Meloni said, “is a very important signal. The conclusions of the European Council confirm full support for the Ukrainian cause. Not only was the unity of Europe reaffirmed, but also the fact that the European Union intends to remain at Ukraine's side for as long as necessary and with all the tools that will be necessary”.
"Italy reaffirmed our full availability, but it was important", Meloni specified, "that the European Council as a whole did so".
– Read also: Macron's provocations, Meloni's short-sightedness
STRATEGIC SUPPLY CHAINS
"The discussion on the competitiveness of our production system" is, for the president, a "very important strategic discussion that Italy has also supported, believing that the crises we have faced require a strategic discussion on the priorities that the European Union must give oneself".
The Council conclusions therefore include "the question of supply chains: I believe that the Ukrainian affair with energy, and even before that the pandemic crisis, have taught us that the European continent, in order to recover its full sovereignty, must also pose the problem of strategic supply chains.
"If you don't control them," Meloni said, "you remain at the mercy of events."
WHAT CHANGES WITH STATE AID
As for the competitiveness of European companies following the US Inflation Reduction Act, “the solutions envisaged among the various member states are different and very oriented towards the possibilities that each state has. The issue of easing state aid", in particular, is "particularly requested by some nations that have greater fiscal space, and which therefore", thanks to the relaxation of the rules, "can more easily help their businesses. Which obviously is a solution that risks having consequences that need to be monitored, in terms of maintaining the single market and equal conditions for other nations. It is a question that Italy has widely posed, asking that the easing of state aid be circumscribed, temporary and limited”.
– Read also: Why big Italian companies are bashing Germany and France on anti-US state aid
MELONI: EUROPEAN SOVEREIGN FUND AND FLEXIBILITY ON EXISTING FUNDS
"Secondly", added Meloni, Italy wanted "that there was also the ability to give a European response to a European problem, because the easing of state aid risks being a national response to a European problem" .
“We have asked”, he continued, “that the Commission make a proposal on a European sovereign wealth fund, that is, a European fund dedicated to the strategic sovereignty of the European Union. This element forms part of the Council's conclusions, but we are also aware of how such a fund takes time. And we don't have time, so we wondered how, even for countries that have less fiscal space, fiscal space could be created. And that's what we managed to achieve."
“The Italian proposal”, explained the president, “was, in addition to the sovereign wealth fund, the possibility of flexibility on existing funds. That is to say: we have funds currently already allocated, ranging from REPowerEU to NextGenerationEU via the cohesion funds; what we have asked for is the possibility of making full use of these resources”.
THE REFORM OF GOVERNANCE
"The other big question we asked and managed to include in the conclusions" is that of governance, Meloni said. "We asked that in the future discussion on the reform of governance, i.e. of the Stability and Growth Pact, the decisions that have been taken be taken into account".
Even if this issue will be addressed in the next European Councils, "the Italian position is fully included in the conclusions" of the last meeting.
THE NEWS ON IMMIGRATION
On immigration, Meloni said that “yesterday established a principle. And that is that you change your approach. The Council puts on paper a sentence that had never been able to put: immigration is a European problem and needs a European response. From my point of view, this changes many things in the European approach”.
“We asked and obtained”, continued the president, “that the Council conclusions focus on the external dimension, therefore on the protection of the external borders of the European Union, taking into account the difference that exists between those borders. And particularly of the specificity of maritime borders”.
Compared to the past, when attention was focused on flows from the east, ie the Balkan route, "we have never seen adequate attention from the European institutions to the Mediterranean route", said Meloni. On the contrary, the last Council gave "priority" to the central Mediterranean.
OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICA
According to Meloni, “Africa offers many opportunities compared to the difficulties that Europe is encountering. I am thinking of the energy issue”: the continent is in fact central to the so-called “Mattei plan”, the government's vision for the transformation of Italy into a gas hub for Europe .
"We believe that by collaborating better with these nations, and imagining a strengthened cooperation, we can also fight the illegal flows and traffickers of human beings, and govern immigration by allowing people to enter Europe legally".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/giorgia-meloni-consiglio-europeo-straordinario/ on Fri, 10 Feb 2023 14:55:12 +0000.