Because companies have excellent reasons to rebel against the EU’s environmentalist ideology

Can one be ultra-European and at the same time be furious with Europe? Can one be ultra-environmental and at the same time be indignant about Europe’s environmentalism? And can one be anti-populist and at the same time agree with the industrial battles fought in Europe by the old theorists of populism? Alessandro Spada is the president of Assolombarda, the union of companies operating in the provinces of Milan, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, and earlier this week his association made headlines for offering Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni the opportunity to deal, even with some success, with one of the most important industrial realities in Italy. Meloni made the news, and we know this, but among the elements that should have captured the attention of observers there are some contained in Spada’s report, which clearly photograph an important phenomenon that is maturing in Europe, in its industrial fabric, and which, speaking of wills, constitutes a particularly negative political legacy of the current European Commission. The issue is easy to say and concerns a topic that is only apparently abstract: “The European Union with its ambitious environmental objectives is forcibly affecting the competitiveness of European manufacturing companies. And what is completely unreasonable is the environmental acceleration given by the European Commission which, with these times and methods, is demonstrating its willingness to pass on the costs of the ecological transition to companies”.