What the German newspapers are writing about Draghi premier’s plan
First reactions of the press in Germany on Draghi's programmatic speech in Parliament
Mario Draghi has only one shot to fire to be able to do what 17 governments since the beginning of the so-called Second Republic have failed to do: to bring Italy back to growth. This is the meaning of a comment published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by Tobias Piller, long-time Rome correspondent for the most authoritative German newspaper and some time ago a frequent guest on Italian talk shows playing the role of the German hawk. The economy must "finally show visible signs" of growth, otherwise in the space of one or two years the country will find itself facing a new crisis of credibility with the burden of a debt oscillating between 150 and 160% of the domestic product gross.
The Faz does not comply with the general climate of optimism with which most of the German press accompanied the journey of the former president of the European Central Bank towards Palazzo Chigi, not so much for distrust towards him, but for the structural condition of the country and for the quality of its political class, which remains the basis of the new government. In fact, the Frankfurt daily prefers to highlight what it considers to be the obstacles to the Italian economic recovery: "the inefficient administration, slow and unpredictable justice, insufficient school preparation, professional training often existing only on paper, the constant emigration of young people more qualified and moreover the lacking infrastructures or the offer of the tourism sector, in many ways outdated and completely undersized in the South ”.
In Draghi's program these problems are more or less all, acknowledges the Faz: "The new prime minister is right in wanting to tackle many dysfunctions at the same time, after all, one problem always blocks the elimination of the other". But the will impacts on skepticism: “Draghi's plan to bring his country on a path of growth through many determined reforms involves a political risk. For many years, Italy's economic policy has been characterized by an often empty rhetoric, accompanied by substantial stagnation. Professional politicians were not interested in real change, because it carries political costs associated with the abolition of legacies. the increased competition, which Italy desperately needs, also creates uncertainty and many losers ”.
According to Frankfurter , everything hinges on the reforms that the country has needed for some time, but which it hasn't wanted to do for some time: "Until now, many Italians also wanted to keep the existing one with all their strength, as long as there was even a small advantage associated with it. Nobody believes that there will be justice in the redistribution of opportunities and benefits. This is why in Italy there is too little trust in the state and in politics ”. Expectations are therefore not very high for the success of Draghi's articulated program: “It would already be an effort worthy of Hercules to overcome some of the deeply rooted problems”. For the Faz , the prime minister will face a race against time, in which he will have to immediately demonstrate that he possesses and knows how to implement the right recipes. “Draghi will undoubtedly also show strength and consistency in presenting his government program”, concludes Piller, “but he has only one shot available. In short, it must demonstrate that its reforms offer prospects for recovery. Otherwise the short-sighted gaze of the navel of Roman politics will prevail again, with party politicians who do not (want) to understand the danger that Italy is running ”.
The tone of the other great German national newspaper, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, is different . Starting from the title of the article dedicated today to Italy, with the biblical title “Salvatore, help”. The savior is Mario Draghi. “When nothing works anymore, the Italians force what they have best to return to the service of the country. And Mario Draghi is the best of all the best, even according to those few who in the end will not vote him as prime minister ". The article, more than an analysis, is a reportage in the moods of Italy that awaits the new president like a Messiah. Other technicians are called up (names not all very good wishes) who in the last three decades have helped the politics in difficulty, from Carlo Azeglio Ciampi to Lamberto Dini, up to Mario Monti, to always face the same triptych of emergencies: accounts, money, debts . "Abroad it may seem like a defeat for democracy, a failure of the political class, and of course it is," writes the SZ, "but all is well in an emergency, and how great the need is this time will probably only be recognized. when the pandemic is over and the destruction becomes visible, the devastation of the economy, the bleeding of society ”.
The article also continues a bit on the wave of clichés, jumps between comedy and melodrama, tells the political conversions of populists of all colors (anti-elite movements now supporters of a symbol of the establishment, anti-Europeanists transformed into Euro- enthusiastic) cites a survey that reports 62% of votes for Draghi, which traces his career in the temples of economics and finance and also the ferocious criticism of part of the German press at the time of the ECB: “Count Draghila”.
Despite the different tones compared to the Faz , even the Munich newspaper basically thinks that Draghi will be successful only if he will somehow corner the Roman political world, even if not blatantly: "Draghi always gives the impression of knowing with precisely what there is to do, as if he were hovering over the theater (of politics) that he presides today ”. In Rome, everything is already taken for granted, that Draghi will last a year, rewrite the Recovery Plan, implement some reforms, make his role weigh in Brussels and then allow himself to be elected head of state by parliament, concludes the SZ , but he, Draghi , he says nothing and nothing can be understood from his silences. It is in this diversity that the key to the success of his government may lie.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/che-cosa-scrivono-i-giornali-tedeschi-sul-piano-di-draghi-premier/ on Wed, 17 Feb 2021 14:02:21 +0000.