‘There are 750 billion reasons why Europe is good for Italy’

Editorial published by Il Foglio on 3/6/2020

Italy is already the primary beneficiary of the European response and will be even more so if we keep up the political pressure in the coming months. How much is already available to Italy as an emergency response to the crisis? From SURE 15-20 billion, from the EIB 35 billion, from the ESM 36 billion, as an ‘extra’ from the EU budget 2014-2020 another 6/7 billion. To which is now added Ursula Von der Leyen’s proposal, Next Generation, which envisages 80 billion in grants and 90 billion in loans, again for Italy. Total: 250-255 billion, about 15% of Italy’s GDP.

But there is more: the ECB will buy EUR 110-120 billion of Italian debt in 2020 and continue its action in 2021. EU support for Italy will therefore be around 500 billion, or 30% of GDP. Without Christine Lagarde’s action, Italy would be in a more difficult situation today than in 2008. Yes, this time the European response came on time and was massive. A response from European leaders, starting with Macron, who first aggregated a group of countries sharing a ‘sense of urgency and farsightedness’, to recall Alcide de Gasperi, from Ireland to Greece; and then, thanks in particular to the strong push of Italy and Spain, used this political weight for an ambitious agreement with Merkel. A response from Merkel herself, who has moved away from the status quo and now even opens up to a necessary reform of the EU treaties. Of the majority in the European Parliament, from the EPP to the S&D and Greens, among which the new group Renew Europe played a central role in particular on Recovery Bonds. And of the European Commissioners, including first and foremost Gentiloni and Breton.

Why this list? Because they are Italy’s ‘public enemy number one’, to use the words of Salvini, Meloni and Di Maio when they put on the yellow waistcoat. But what do the friends of the right do instead? For Orbán, who sits in the same group (EPP) as Berlusconi, and is the political reference of Meloni and Salvini, the ‘Recovery Plan’ is ‘as surdo’ because it favours Italy too much: a real ‘Brother of Hungary’! We could go on with other ‘friends’ that it is better to leave on the street as soon as possible, but it is not that important. The message is very clear: Europe is good for Italy, while nationalism makes us all lose.

What is important to reaffirm, however, just after remembering our 2 June yesterday, is Italy’s European choice. It is that Article 11 of the Constitution which states that ‘Italy…consents, on equal terms with other states, to the limitations of sovereignty necessary for an order that ensures peace and justice among nations; it promotes and encourages international organisations for this purpose’. A manifesto of great topicality, for a new Italian and European project.

The Recovery Fund and the idea of European public debt are a step towards the Federal Union, and the crisis has shown everyone our European and global interdependencies. Yes: the issue of sovereignty is decisive and never before have we had to ‘take back control’, to quote the famous slogan of the ‘Brexiteers’ (let’s take back control). But to do so, anything but ‘Italexit’, anything but ‘we’ll go it alone’. To protect the national interest-Italian, French, German… – let us build a sovereign Europe that governs the great transnational issues, from the climate challenge to immigration.

And let us bet on the ecological and digital transformation that can become the ‘coal and steel’ for the Union of the 21st century. Here then is the twofold challenge that awaits us. In Italy, the Recovery Plan must be the historic opportunity to reform a country that urgently needs to get healthy and renew itself. There are two decisions to be taken during the six months of the German Presidency: adoption of the European Recovery and Transformation Plan and launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe, to reform policies and treaties. Let us not waste this crisis.