Speeches

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, when someone is a party to and a cause of the problem, it is unlikely, if not impossible, that they will be able to contribute to the solution. All the problems outlined in the Draghi report are closely linked to the economic and industrial policy choices made by the Union in recent years. I therefore ask myself: Who has depressed public investment with illogically tight pro-cyclical budgets? Who depressed productivity by encouraging wage cuts? Who favored uncontrolled immigration to block wage claims, fueling the industrial reserve army? Who drove up gas prices with the unattainable goals of the Green Deal? Colleagues, allow me to summarize the Draghi report, because I would tell you that, before applauding it, it should be understood.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, yes, two days ago the Italian Vice-President of the Council, Matteo Salvini, was asked to be sentenced to six years in prison on the basis of the crime of kidnapping, following the case of a vessel flying the Spanish flag which had been assigned two safe ports in other Member States of the European Union. Beyond the issue of border protection, which the topicality of these weeks sees at the center of the action of several governments, regardless of political extraction, there is an alarming fact: in fact, if part of the judiciary instead of applying the rules outlined by the legislative power assumes attitudes of political militancy, the rule of law is clearly and heavily questioned. In the light of the above, President, ladies and gentlemen, we request the addition to the agenda of a debate on the subject already mentioned by the President.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would ask Mrs von der Leyen to spare us from being told that you will be the President of all, if you will be, since you have not decided to speak to certain political groups representing millions of voters. Then I see that, after the election campaign, the good intentions on the revision of the Constitution have fallen into oblivion. green deal, one green deal who doesn't stand up. Someone had believed her, but the agreement with the Greens brings us back to the times when Timmermans was the master. Regardless of how it goes, you are on an uphill path looking at the colorful majority that will support you, with a fake center-right who asked for the real votes of the center-right voters and then go on to form a comfortable majority with the same left parties punished by the same voters. It's brilliant! Without ambiguity the League says no to Ursula von der Leyen's encore. Nothing personal – maybe I would have been more cautious when using SMS – but doing the President of the European Commission well is something else.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, lower prices for households and businesses because the cost of energy in Europe weighs too much and affects the competitiveness of those who work. This must be the first objective of this reform. Then it is also necessary to have the ability to analyze with humility, with self-criticism, all the factors that have led to an increase in the Union's energy dependence from abroad and to the absurd increases of recent years. So something didn't work. I fully agree with Parliament's position on the question of Legal Single Entity, a single entity that would not only risk disrupting the current functioning of the European integrated market, but would also be detrimental to national systems, inevitably leading to the elimination of national stock exchanges in favour of a European super-stock exchange. In conclusion, I believe that we need a balance between decarbonisation and competitiveness, given that too much ideological reform is massacring markets, consumers and businesses. Europe is asking for something else.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, 'Let us help them at home' must not be an empty box, a slogan for its own sake: It must represent a concrete commitment of the European Union in the direction of development cooperation. The PRIMA initiative is jointly promoted by the European Commission and 19 countries in the Euro-Mediterranean area, including eleven from the Union and eight from outside - we welcome, among other things, the inclusion of Bulgaria among the partner countries - for a partnership that is of considerable geostrategic importance for the Union as a whole. Addressing challenges such as water scarcity, food insecurity in the Southern Neighbourhood, in fact, intends to act as a tool for scientific diplomacy, focusing in particular on the root causes of the migration emergency, whose impact is increasingly extending beyond the borders of southern states alone. Between 2018 and 2022, PRIMA financed more than 200 projects related to water supply, agriculture and agri-food development, for a total value of almost 300 million euros. In less than six months – and here we come to the most interesting points – since the allocation of the dossier to the ITRE Committee we have been able to complete the entire legislative procedure, in what turns out to be a significant success; Indeed, perhaps a real record from the point of view of timing. Furthermore, it is right to recall that PRIMA plays a crucial role in addressing one of the most urgent issues on the European scene, namely the migration emergency. We, through research and innovation, aim to directly combat the root causes of the phenomenon, primarily by promoting water management and the development of innovative agricultural practices, as well as innovation to ensure local communities are able to adapt to change and environmental conditions. In addition, PRIMA intends to invest in education and youth engagement, thus creating opportunities at neighbourhood level as, if young people find prospects close to home, then they will be less inclined to look for other solutions. In conclusion, I would like to thank all the shadow rapporteurs for their contribution, especially for the speed that has enabled the process to come to a conclusion: this is a great result and especially with really important timing.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, zero growth, GDP running almost everywhere except in the eurozone, the sick German economy of Europe. Indeed, speaking of debates, perhaps it would be interesting to make one also with regard to what is happening on the German roads. In this context, how is the Plenary occupied? With an instrumental and incurrent debate that arrives a few decades late, halfway between a broken record and a banal weapon of mass distraction. But this is not the first time we see ghost-catchers hovering in this House. So zero sense of priorities and another missed opportunity. We could have discussed extremism on both the right and the left in a more balanced way, perhaps opening a debate on the cultural heritage of the lead years, but it was preferred to use this House for two hours, involving about seventy translators, for mere electoral campaign purposes. The biggest problem is not extremism but the great injustice, if anything, is represented by too many massacres without culprits. Colleagues, my political history is clear and unequivocal, I am the person least suited to defend those who have an outstretched arm or those who refer to any type of extremism, but now it is necessary to give an answer to those who are afraid, to those who do not arrive at the end of the month, to those who are disadvantaged. It is necessary to give a perspective to those who sometimes, with little knowledge of history, take refuge in extreme attitudes. But let's stop looking for ghosts of the past!

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in order to achieve the objective of making Europe economically secure, we first need the ability to invest, and in order to invest, we need a sustainable reform of the Stability Pact. Here, in my house the pacts must be respected, and to respect them we need sustainable and non-brained rules; rules that do not mortify and ghettoize those countries that have a high public debt. Securing the economy also requires more energy autonomy. In these five years we have instead seen how the policies, unfortunately sometimes zealous, on climate and energy have discouraged investment in those sources that could be alternatives to the intermittency and non-programmability of renewable sources, however destined to play an important role in the energy transition. Investment and energy resources are therefore two of the elements necessary to strengthen European economic security, an issue that has been neglected for too long and has emerged with arrogance after the pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. So, in conclusion, all good projects need investment but also the humility to recognize when certain recipes did not work and, if we look at the data on growth and gross domestic product, we have to realize how in Europe for years we walked while others ran.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, it is normal to start building a house from the foundations and not from the roof and politically, before proclaiming great goals, one should ask oneself whether one has the tools at one's disposal to achieve these goals. Today we have yet another confirmation that the green transition has not been designed with the utmost rationality, so to speak. I congratulate the rapporteur on her work, which has been carried out very quickly. Here, perhaps his speech was too optimistic, but it is clear that the problem is not the text that we are going to vote on in this plenary - a text that, among other things, the League will support. The problem is that it is a text that arrived too late, a text that arrived after the diktats on the Green Deal. Other topic: adequate funding is lacking. From this point of view it would be good, perhaps, to take a look and take as an example what has been the action taken by the United Kingdom on the subject of critical raw materials. So today we put the first brick, but the race to recover the lost time will be long and very complicated.

Mr President, Commissioner, it is very right to decarbonise, the path is the right one, we must try to produce, to cultivate, to feed ourselves by polluting less. In this reasoning, however, I believe that there is a great absence, the absence of energy diplomacy, because Europe must not become the restricted traffic zone of the world. Limited traffic areas are those areas of our cities where you go for a walk and go shopping, but no one works there. I believe that the tangible risk is this, trying to avoid the problems of competitiveness that our companies are suffering every day. Then there is the big issue of addictions. Many colleagues have legitimately reasoned about the successes of freeing themselves from gas imports from Russia, but no one notices that we are entering the blind alley of dependence on Chinese raw materials, supply chains and technologies. We have faced several legislative excesses: the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which citizens in Italy have come to know as the "green houses" directive, with an absolutely unachievable roadmap. Without forgetting the issue of the obligation to introduce the electric car and no one has explained to us how we will generate all the electricity that will be used to ensure electric mobility. So there is not only electrification, there are arguments to be opened, for example, on the subject of nuclear power. Enough of the fable of dependence on fossil gases, given that gas will be a necessary backup technology for the coming years and, above all, I believe that the priority is to prevent Europe from becoming the LTZ of the world.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this is a debate that takes place in the context of a conflict, there are people who are suffering, so there is no point in making a controversy or proclaiming results that have not been achieved. The main mistake was not to learn from what happened with the circumvention of the 2014 sanctions, because Russia will be able to get more revenue this year thanks to oil exports, despite the maximum ceilings imposed by the European Union and the G7. Many are helping Russia: Trade with India tripled, trade with China increased by a third and exports from Turkey even increased by 90%. So, this is a scheme already seen, with third country operators buying goods in Europe and then reselling them in Russia. Sanctions had a strong impact in spring 2022 – this is undeniable – then the ruble recovered and interest rates fell. These are data that must make us reflect on the objectively limited ability of the European Union to influence major international issues and on sanctions it would perhaps be appropriate to make less philosophy and start thinking about the price that European companies are paying.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately today makes us understand the abysmal distance between words and the world of work, between the rigidity of thought of the building and the answers that a company must find in everyday life. The last storm we're trying to deal with is the interest rate storm. We all know well the historical and ideological reasons that lead the European Central Bank to raise rates, clearly trying to counter inflation, but the recent increases are bloody for the business world, with disproportionate increases in mortgage and financing costs. At the end of the month, entrepreneurs can't take it anymore. After having set out in any way the well-founded concerns about the timing of the ecological transition, we see the European Commission continuing to pull straight, regardless of the fact that Timmermans cannot represent those who do business, regardless of the fact that ambitions and objectives become increasingly abstract, while what is concrete are the continuous obstacles that are placed on entrepreneurs. Our concerns about the green shift are not prejudiced, Commissioner, but summarise what entrepreneurs, university professors, analysts and technicians think and say. You see, Commissioner, the arguments that I am sharing with this House up to ten years ago would have been off-limits to suggestions from Eurocritical circles; Unfortunately, it is different now. Get out of the building, get out of the European bubble, talk to entrepreneurs and workers. This Parliament must decide which side to stand on: must decide whether to follow the unrealizable roadmaps of bureaucrats, unrealizable and brainy, or whether to lend a hand to entrepreneurs, to investments, to their ability to have vision and above all to their dreams.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the water crisis has highlighted several problems in Europe: from unequal distribution of resources to water security for human activities, agriculture and livestock farming. Now, without getting lost in impractical and adventurous solutions, immediate priorities are linked to investments in modern and dispersive water infrastructure. We are talking about building reservoirs, artificial catchment basins, we are talking about modernizing pipelines and canals to eliminate losses. These are concrete solutions. You invest to save resources and to add security. In addition, and this is a more perspective reasoning, it is necessary to promote a conscious and sustainable use of water. A serious reflection must also be opened on the issue of the constraints with which public operators have to deal. Too much bureaucracy slows down investment. Local measures with a high cost per unit of emission cut are irrelevant, constitute a waste of resources. It would be preferable to use them where reducing emissions is much less expensive. We are fighting, colleagues, a holy war on climate change, with the standard bearers of unique thought who are ready to camouflage ideology with science. There are those who finance fear, there are those who finance those who smear works of art and block traffic. Here, maybe tell these gentlemen to also finance some useful work to cope with the water emergency.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I shall come straight to the point. Under these conditions, Europe is not the place to invest. Problem number one: interest rates. Mortgages and financing for households and businesses are becoming increasingly expensive with the European Central Bank ready to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points, while the United States is blocking them, while China is even cutting them. Second problem: the ecological transition. We are the ones who pollute the least, but with a certain taste for masochism we equip ourselves with the most restrictive legislation globally. Under these conditions, who do you think is going to invest in Europe? You want to get to the most important green industrial revolution in history, but you want to do it with restrictive monetary policies, shaping the future of the Stability Pact with austerity. Return from debt and cut in public spending: recipes already used in the past, recipes that have not worked. And here a limit emerges, I can not say whether cultural or ideological. Too many capitals are prioritising balanced budgets over structural improvements in the economy. There is a lack of focus on the manufacturing industry because, instead of incentivising it, the Union is inventing new barriers to competitiveness with its overzealous and brainy climate and energy policies. Be careful because the easing of state aid rules, while it can be useful, on the other hand can become a boomerang, as countries with more fiscal space will invest and help their companies, while companies from other countries, those with less fiscal space, will remain to look at a gap that will widen more and more. Finally, ladies and gentlemen, no one is talking about this, but I would also like to reflect on the problems of the placement of securities for the financing of Union programmes, starting with Next Generation. In fact, despite having a rating with triple AAA, the Commission pays higher rates than Germany and France and on short maturities even the Union pays more than Spain. So investors perceive a higher risk and demand a higher return. I conclude, Mr President, because these are numbers that dismantle a certain propaganda carried out in Brussels as a successful broadcaster. And it's certainly not a good show.

Mr President, I candidly confess my astonishment at the choice of title: An appeal for further urgent measures. This is a report, what we are discussing, which calls for radical changes in the food sector, in the energy sector, in transport, even in terms of food, in order to achieve the objective of reducing emissions. However, a question arises: What else do you expect us to do? While our competitor World championships go in a completely different direction, here the illusion is fomented that tightening the belt until it chokes will be enough to solve what is instead a world problem and therefore requires a solution at a global level. You have banned the sale of petrol cars, we have asked the Member States to rebuild the entire building stock, you have asked the Europeans not to eat meat, again in the name of combating emissions cuts. And all this without any consideration for the social and economic repercussions that derive from this stigma of Europe as the only defendant for global warming. More than 92% of emissions come from outside Europe. This is a fact and therefore this means that the problem cannot be solved without the commitment of other countries and, if we do not understand this in this House, we are not going anywhere.

Madam President, Commissioners, improving the cybersecurity of digital products is a step forward in protecting users and businesses from the consequences of cyber-attacks that have become increasingly frequent and targeted. Security should not be seen as a cost, but as an investment, given that every data breach has an economic impact that could be avoided through the adoption of advanced technologies. However, I would like to draw attention to a critical point concerning the new regulation. In fact, there is a risk of blocking the development of theopen source in Europe. According to Article 16 of the Cyber Resilience Act, programmers could be held responsible for breaches to the security of their software even if they receive no economic return, and this could damage the innovative drive of open software, which, we recall, plays a prominent role in the European digital economy. We're talking about $100 billion in impact, so it's essential that any legislation takes into account the unique perspectives of software. open source and that future regulations should also take into account the difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises in finding effective solutions to protect them. To this is added a problem, a punitive approach that is provided for small and medium-sized enterprises. We are not there, since we are talking about realities that often do not have the resources to adapt in such a short time. One example is Italy, where three out of four companies, we always talk about small and medium-sized enterprises, do not have a business plan. disaster recovery, and this could cause damage to companies, which in addition to being poorly defended, also risk the mockery of sanctions. I conclude, colleagues, by asking for attention to the world of small and medium-sized enterprises, since we are here to help them and not to invent new obstacles.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, over the past few months, higher than average temperatures have enabled us to reduce gas consumption, which is good news, leading to a reduction in prices and thus guaranteeing us an acceptable level of energy security, thanks to high levels of gas in storage. However, we must not consider the challenge as close to its happy conclusion. In fact, we must avoid deluding ourselves that it is enough to keep the deposits full to avoid the danger of staying dry for the next winter, since in this case it would be the failure of the programming. Energy storage, however important, cannot replace imports that are missing. There has rightly been talk of strengthening cooperation agreements with suppliers such as Algeria, Azerbaijan, or of recovering important projects such as DISMED, while imports of liquefied natural gas have increased very considerably, which have certainly helped to avert a crisis in the winter that has just ended. A reflection: the increase in LNG imports in 2022 was made possible by a particular cyclical situation, with a decrease in demand from China, South-East Asian markets, although the International Energy Agency warned that a return of purchases to important levels by China such as those of 2021 could cause Europe to face a fuel shortage, with a supply-demand gap of 27 billion cubic meters. It's not a small thing. So it is right to continue the commitment towards decarbonisation. But the Europeans, our people, are asking for reassurance, since we cannot pray that a mild winter will make up for the lack of planning.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I have asked to speak on this point because I am very intrigued by the title: "More Europe, more work: Let's build the competitive economy of tomorrow. Attractive title, then one returns to the committee, begins to work on and begin the problems related to competitiveness. Since the beginning of the legislature, we have been told that the Green Deal He wouldn't leave anyone behind. But the numbers tell us the opposite: Just a few weeks ago, Ford announced the cut of 3,800 jobs in the name of the transition to electric. That's not good. We continue to insist on a militant ecologism that puts the human being in the background and does not take into account that Europe goes in one direction and the rest of the planet instead goes in another. It is difficult, ladies and gentlemen, to be competitive when the Union's policies are so zealous, let us think, for example, of climate and energy. Let's reflect, for example, on the theme of the packaging regulation, which always follows the same method: proposals made without impact assessment, without listening to companies – companies that define these proposals as wrong and dangerous. So, colleagues, everyone likes the concept of competitiveness but our entrepreneurs ask us to realize it and not just talk about it.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, you will want to apologise, but I agree with little of what I heard today. Let's think about the future and imagine two scenarios: in the first, the electric car will be a luxury, expensive asset, within reach of a few; in the other, it will continue to be a mass good, but the Chinese car manufacturers will have supplanted the poor European manufacturers. Is it science fiction? No, it is not science fiction if we realize, if we look at the numbers and see that BYD, the Chinese electric car giant, doubled its market share in 2022. Meanwhile, to try to maintain competitiveness, European industry is looking around, because here we are at risk of relocations that mean unemployment. We are among those who pollute the least, but it seems that so many times, too many times, in this House we are doing what we can to create more and more difficulties for Europeans. We are working, Commissioner, to pollute less, it is right to do so, but not in this way.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, there are more honest people than honest parties. Qatargate is writing one of the most embarrassing pages in the history of this Parliament. I cannot hide the fact that I am appalled by the attitude of the Socialist Group. An example for everyone is the candidacy, the alleged candidacy for the vice-presidency left vacant by Eva Kaili by my colleague Glucksmann. We are talking about the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Interference, the body that should have overseen Qatargate. The goal failed, but the socialist Glucksmann wanted to be rewarded by being vice-president. And if it was a joke, I think it was a joke of bad taste. What we have left from INGE 1 is a biased and outdated final report. It became waste paper because only yesterday the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office requested the filing of the case of the alleged funds coming from Russia for the benefit of my party. And it would be the least that those in this House who have staged a squalid witch hunt now apologize, although unnecessarily engaged in the regional election campaign in Lombardy. This Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, has one last chance to show some credibility. Tomorrow we will vote for the surrogate for Mrs Kaili and it would be a sign from the majority of this Parliament to include Mrs Tardino, a representative of Identity and Democracy, among the winds that sit in the Bureau of this Parliament. Show that you are not afraid of those who can be seriously vigilant. Show respect for the 10% of European citizens you did not want to be represented. This is the last train that passes.

Mr President, Commissioners, Minister, ladies and gentlemen, 2022 is also coming to an end, but unfortunately many of the questions we were denouncing before the summer remain open. In the first place, many uncertainties about energy prices remain unresolved and it was only yesterday that the Extraordinary Energy Council held in Brussels last smoked black. I would have liked to have told President von der Leyen, before she left the Chamber for the current debate, that accelerating on the energy transition means not having understood that the problem is the Green Deal roadmap, which is totally unrealistic. The President then spoke of preserving the internal market, which is all very well, but it is clear that if only governments with fiscal space intervene, Europe will be split. Too much philosophy, too much ideology and too little attention for competitiveness and for the defense of jobs. So you don't go far.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank the rapporteur for his practicality. I believe that ideology and bureaucracy are the first elements that must be opposed in order to achieve a territorially-friendly energy transition. On the subject of green hydrogen, technologies are improving, prices which, I recall, are made up of 70% electricity and 30% electrolysers, are falling, but demand is lagging behind and the market actually still needs to be created. The quest for energy autonomy for the Union goes in the right direction, but this Parliament does not always manage to legislate with a roadmap that is consistent with the possibilities and generation capacities of the Member States. Sustainability must not only be environmental, but it must also be extended to the social and economic side, because if companies close or relocate and if jobs are lost, then we will have failed.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I am disappointed, but not surprised by a debate at times worthy of the banality of an ordinary child. There are big absentees in this discussion, and it is the men and especially the women of Christian religion who in Qatar are forced to hide their faith, in a country where the conversion from Islam to Christianity is not even recognized by the government. But today we are discussing, dutifully, many, too many cases of white deaths in the shipyards of the world, we are discussing violations of the rights of the LGBT community, but we have seen that a piece is missing. Everyone, I say, everyone has the right to respect, but those who are following this plenary from home tonight have come up with a different idea, they have come up with an idea of a Europe that thinks of certain rights and in a cowardly way turns to the opposite side and does not think of other rights. Colleagues, just to keep a football vocabulary: You have missed yet another opportunity to show that there is no second-class discrimination in this House.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, first of all I congratulate the rapporteur on his good work. The digital transformation of society and the economy has broadened and differentiated the range of threats, creating new challenges that require rapid and innovative responses. The number of cyber-attacks continues to increase, with increasingly sophisticated incursions both from outside and within the Union. The group worked on strengthening guarantees and incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises, which was later included in the agreement. The most appropriate direction is to reduce administrative and bureaucratic burdens and improve the reporting of cyber security incidents, in particular by ensuring adequate support for all micro and small enterprises falling within the scope of the Directive. There is still the problem of skills shortages, which need to be addressed quickly and of course.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Luigi Einaudi, the second President of the history of the Italian Republic, called inflation an odious tax on the poor. These are prophetic words in light of how much the increase in energy prices is weighing on low-income groups and I believe that, in a normal world, we would start to reflect on how harmful the Union’s climate and energy policies have been because – let’s be honest – the Green Deal is becoming a matter for the rich. The goal can be shared, the path and the tools no longer. A gas war has been unleashed for years that has reduced investment and led our continent to become increasingly dependent on Russia. We can no longer wait, now we need a bath of humility and realism and we need to decide whether the Union wants to act as a narrow circle for the rich or the spoiled or whether, on the contrary, we will abandon the overdose of ideology and start working for ordinary people.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, drought, cost explosion. 2022 in the agricultural sector sees a marked deterioration compared to last year. Consider that in Italy 34% of farms are forced to work in a negative income condition, while more than 13% are even at risk of closing down. The measures proposed by the Commission last July on the reduction of tariffs for the import of raw materials needed to produce fertilisers are certainly positive, but while tariffs are being removed to lower the very high production costs, on the other hand with a stronger strategy, we are creating the basis for further increasing import dependency. We are under the illusion that we can overcome the crisis in the agricultural sector with restrictive actions like this one, but the risk is to increase the dependence on imports that has been recognized as the primary cause of the explosion in costs. So I wouldn't want us to repeat the same mistake, the same misstep that we're already doing on energy, relying on the rationing plans and the package. Fit for 55. So, Commissioner, I ask you, I propose you, let us think seriously about a new assessment that finally takes into account the changed international context and that is ready for the road map of the European Union. Farm to Fork.