“Unjustifiable fuel increases, new consumer protection initiatives” – Corriere.it

Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, we are witnessing a very rapid increase in fuel prices after the excise cut measure was suspended by the government. What do you intend to do?
“We have coordinated a two-pronged action to curb speculation. Economy Minister Giorgetti with the Guardia di Finanza who have the most effective tools».

Which?
«As far as I’m concerned, in recent weeks I had already asked Mr. Prices for constant monitoring with the collaboration of the GdF to create a more efficient control model and immediately highlight any anomaly and any attempt at speculation, as it seems to have emerged in some striking cases and not justifiable these days. Next week I will bring together consumer associations to discuss the most suitable tools».

Today the premier will meet the president of the EU Commission von der Leyen: what are you asking of Europe?
«A European industrial policy that allows the Union and individual states to respond to the dual challenge of the USA and China. The United States has put in place a sort of internal “Marshall Plan” of a level never seen before to face China’s systemic challenge: 1,200 billion for infrastructure, 280 billion for research in frontier technologies, 369 billion for inflation reduction act. Plus: very low energy costs and regulations that protect local production with the “buy American”. With this competitive gap, even European companies are enticed to invest in the USA».

And how do you react?
«In the same way: common energy policy, as the founding fathers Adenauer, Schuman and De Gasperi wanted; industrial policy that is based on a new Stability Pact which must be oriented towards development, on the reform of state aid and above all on a European sovereign wealth fund to allow for the reduction of internal differences. SURE was a success, we follow that model».

Do you insist on reviewing the Pnrr?
«Italy has achieved the 55 objectives requested by Europe, with a great job done by Minister Fitto. But the Pnrr must also be reviewed in the light of the RepowerEU Initiative, the increase in the cost of raw materials and the level of implementation of the cohesion programmes, in a positive comparison with the Commission on the basis of the regulation of the same Pnrr».

It seems that the EU is very cold on this point.
«We are not the only ones to ask for a revision of the Pnrr and above all we are not isolated in Europe at all. On the contrary. Italy counts today more than ever, as demonstrated by both the case of the “minimum tax” and that of the “price cap” on gas. In both cases it was precisely the authority of Prime Minister Meloni that unblocked the negotiations: his direct intervention against the Polish premier to remove Warsaw’s veto. Moreover, both the Czech government, which presided over the last semester, and the Swedish government, which presides over the new one, are in full political harmony with us and this says a lot about how European politics is changing».

What should a sort of “new alliance” in Europe aim for?
«We must create a fair competition, what is called the “level playing field”: in this direction some key instruments have already been developed, such as the European “golden power”, the instrument for international procurement (IPI) and the regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market. We are now focusing our efforts on a series of tools that complete the “toolbox”: we started with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, we will continue with two regulations that sanction products deriving from deforestation and those made using forced labour. These new instruments do not directly address unfair trade, as trade defense instruments do, but rather apply EU values ​​(concerning human rights, the environment and the climate) to international trade, and do so in a way the WTO. In this way we will gradually be able to “level the playing field” and introduce the “buy European” principle to preserve our social model”.

Meloni is working on a pact between the Conservatives and the Ppe. Would this facilitate the European path that you outline?
«Giorgia Meloni leads one of the three great founding countries and presides over the European conservative party. It is likely that the Conservative group could become the third European group in the next Parliament with FdI the largest national group. At the same time, the number of countries led by centre-right coalitions is likely to increase between now and June 2024. So there could be an extraordinary “astral” alignment: a centre-right majority in the European Parliament, with an alliance between the popular and conservatives, and a clear shift to the right of the governments of the Union. This will also determine the structures of the Commission in which the Italian leadership will emerge strengthened. I think that many in Berlin and Paris also hope for this because they are aware of their own difficulties and of the need to find a common European path to the global transition and the dual challenge of the USA and China».

Would it also mean a more restrictive policy on the migrant front?
«We are working to guarantee the external border of Europe and a Mediterranean policy that tackles the smuggling of migrants, an ethical abomination. We urge Europe to prepare a “Mattei plan” for Africa, a great Italian that has safeguarded the country’s energy policy in a logic of win-win partnership with the Arab and African producing countries. Today we need to do the same: Europe can win the global challenge only by looking to the South, freeing Africa from Chinese and Russian hegemony and growing together».

To be stronger in Europe, can a single center-right party be needed?
«In Europe, as in Italy, there is not a single centre-right party but centre-right coalitions. This is also thanks to Berlusconi and to whoever founded what appeared then as an anomaly in 1994 and has instead become over time precisely a model that today gives strength to Italy in Europe and in the world».

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