(Finance) – Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has received the French economy minister today in Rome at the Ministry of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. During the intense and cordial meeting, many topics were addressed also in view of the next Ecofin on 14 March.
On the table, the rules of the new European governance, the common responseand to the IRA (the plan to fight inflation approved by the United States), the reform of the European energy market, the review of investments in Europe essential for development. Giorgetti reiterated the importance of paragraph 18 of the conclusions of the last European Council: “Europe must move forward together – he said – and find a common strategy on the main issues, starting with state aid and governance review”.
The MEF explains in a note that Giorgetti insisted on the need to find a common classification for some expenses which are strategic investments such as defence, aid to Ukraine, green transition. On the response to the IRA, Giorgetti hopes that Europe “is not limited to a revision of the state aid rules” but that it is able “to create a series of common tools that finance strategic projects and support the competitiveness of European industries”.
He then agreed that it is necessary to avoid a fragmentation of the market by creating divergences between the States and Giorgetti insisted on the need for rules in order not to increase the distance between the Countries that have a large fiscal capacity to the detriment of the others. Both ministers decided to explore the possibility of a system of European guarantees and individual countries to encourage private investors towards strategic development projects. Giorgetti and Le Maire agree on the need to help investments but without producing new debt.
Inflation and energy represent a challenge for both countries that have been facing important reforms to restore their accounts for some time. If Le Maire recalled the controversial pension reform, the labor reform and the review of public spending, Giorgetti lingered on the new rules of superbonus building that secure the accounts of the Italians.
“Inflation is everyone’s real problem – underlined the owner of via XX Settembre – and I don’t think it can be solved only with a restrictive interest rate policy. With regard to energy and food prices, we are finalizing proposals to meet people’s real needs, as France also recently announced”