«Devastating story, full light must be shed»- Corriere.it

A story with “devastating” contours, on which “full light” must be shed. Like this Giorgia Meloni speaks of the investigation into alleged bribes from Qatar to MEPs — the so-called «Qatargate». «The scenario is worrying, the news that comes out tells something we would never have imagined and in the face of this type of thing there must be a reaction, we need to go all the way, without making discounts, because the credibility of the EU and our nations», said Meloni, arriving in Brussels for the European Council.

The story began last Friday, when the Belgian federal prosecutor arrested former Pd MEP (now in Article 1) Antonio Panzeri, the vice-president of the European Parliament Eva Kaili (Greek socialist, now removed from office), his father and his Italian companion Francesco Giorgi (panzeri’s former assistant), Panzeri’s wife and daughter, the secretary of the NGO No peace without justice Niccolò Figà Talamanca and the head of the International Confederation of Trade Unions Luca Visentini (returned to freedom). They are charged with criminal conspiracy, money laundering and corruption.

The maneuver

Meloni then addressed the issue of the opinion of the European Commission on the maneuver launched by Italy: «The European Union says that we have carried out a very serious manoeuvre», he said, «we are among those who have had the best judgment and this requires the parliament to move quickly, while respecting its prerogatives that I have always defended. Surely what the Commission says is that we have done an excellent job, and in the short time we had available it was not an easy thing to do».

Overall, explains Enrico Marro, “the Commission appreciated the prudent approach of the Italian budget bill”; issued a warning on high bills (“The extension of existing support measures and/or the adoption of new aid in reaction to high energy prices would contribute to a higher growth in nationally financed net current expenditure and an increase in the deficit and public debt forecast for 2023”) and criticized some measures (“The raising of the ceiling on cash transactions from the current 2,000 to 5,000 euros; the provision equivalent to a tax amnesty which allows the cancellation of previous tax debts up to one thousand euros for the period 2000-2015; the possibility of refusing electronic payment of amounts of less than 60 euros without incurring penalties; the renewal in 2023 of the early access to pension schemes expiring at the end of 2022, with tightening of the criteria of age”).

The energy

As for the energy issue, Meloni said that «we are called to confirm our support for Ukraine, but this also means giving effective responses to the dominoes of consequences that the conflict entails. I believe that the theme is very political and not very technical; the European Council has what it takes to make progress, Italy brings its solution and will seek common solutions that are effective”.

Article being updated…