(Finance) – Theagriculture it was the first sector “to collide with problems that come from above”, in this specific case “from dimension European who doesn’t recognize them specificity national“. This is what the Minister of Economy and Finance claimed, Giancarlo Giorgettispeaking at a public meeting organized in Brescia by Coldiretti.
It is “important”, he added, that “the government that has a time horizon of 5 years like ours, knows how to defend in Europe theinterest national. This culture must be defeated, for which when we defend the national interest we become sovereigns”, while protecting national interests must be “a common heritage”. “When France or Germany they move, there is no left or right that cares, and it is time for it to work like this in Italy too”, declared the minister.
“We fill our mouths with so much PNRR“, but we don’t consider that “the money is there” so now “we expect concrete results”, underlined Giorgetti.
The minister then spoke of the EU summit of this week. “It will be an important and serious appointment. In Europe – she explained – we realized that after the competition Chinese and that of countries with low labor costs, even the Americans have begun to defend their own interests. They made a law called Inflation Reaction Act, an anti-inflation law. That’s the title, but underneath there is an act of pure protectionism: basically they give a lot of public money to companies that undertake to produce those components only for the United States”.
“And now – added Giorgetti – here in Europe they realized that, after the competition from the Chinese, we now also have competition from our American ‘allies’. So what do we do, how do we respond? And of course a kind of circus started here. You will see that tomorrow the French and German ministers are going to negotiate with the Americans, because they are asking for the possibility of being able to derogate from the rules of Europe and therefore the possibility of giving state aid to companies, how and when they want”.
“We are theoretically in favor of the State helping companies in a phase of great transformation. But there is behind the pitfall. They ask to do this but they want to keep all of them still budget rulesthe famous Stability pact. The bottom line is that because they have budgetary space, fiscal space, they can use the budgetary space to help businesses. We would theoretically have the right to help them, but we can’t do it because we have them rules which enclose us in the famous parameters that were once called Maastricht”, continued Giorgetti.
“This battle – said the minister – it is a battle that is being fought because if these possibilities are not valid for everyone, unfair competition will come not only from the Chinese and the Americans, but also from the French and the Germans. And that would be disaster for us. For this reason it will be one week complicatedwhich will then continue also the following week”.