What Francesco spoke about.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, three numbers would suffice to explain the link between crime and illegal immigration: 360 000 illegal crossings of European borders per year; 90% of these crossings are managed by organised crime; 6 billion dollars a year in the coffers of the mafias. Yet there are still those who think that fighting illegal immigration means denying a young woman, a teenager or a politically persecuted person the chance to have a second chance at life here in Europe. With 90% of the traffic handled by the Mafia. But, in your opinion, a human trafficker who has to choose who to smuggle into Europe, between a desperate person who asks for help and a criminal with a suitcase of dollars collected who knows where, who will enter first? Like those who, in my Tuscany, some time ago, did not want to hear about the Nigerian mafia, because it was a racist expression and then we handed over the racket of prostitution and drugs.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission wants to promote the right to strike and social dialogue in the 26 countries of the Union. I wasn't wrong: I said 26, because in Italy we have other problems. In Italy we have Landini and the CGIL. In Italy we have the CGIL that pretends not to see when the government gives 6.5 billion to Stellantis and, three months later, Stellantis shares 5.5 billion with its shareholders. Landini is the one who today incites social revolt because the government cuts "only" 3 billion and 600 million to the banks to reduce the social wedge, while he was silent when the government took the money from the workers to save the friendly banks. The right to strike and collective bargaining are serious things, Vice President, very serious! And today the fact that we are here to discuss it supports this thesis. Are you sure that the way of doing unions that certain social forces have is the best way to defend workers' rights? I don't.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, foreign direct investment can be an opportunity for growth and innovation for those who receive it. But when dealing with this topic, however, at least a couple of distinctions are needed. The first one: the strategic nature of the investment sector: We must avoid the risk of controls in areas that are crucial to the life of each individual nation. The second: to date, the European Union does not have a homogeneous system of control of IDFs and this still makes us too permeable. FDI can, however, be a tool for employment protection. Last October, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, met with the Chinese government inviting it to invest in our country, so as to turn an attack on the internal market into a job opportunity. Ultimately, a competitive Europe does not shy away from foreign capital, but defends the fundamental areas, placing the protection of security and safety at the top of its priorities. asset national strategies.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, I would like to share with you today the pleasure and pride of speaking - as an Italian - on a subject such as employment policies and of being able to present to you the results achieved by Italy over the last two years. Today we are calling on the European Union to promote employment. In Italy, the number of jobs has increased by 834,000 in the last two years and the number of people employed has reached a record 24 million. We call on the European Union to promote STEM education in order to promote the integration of young people into the labour market. Well, in Italy in the last two years we have invested 950 million in STEM education and 545 million to combat early school leaving. Colleagues, today Giorgia Meloni's Italy can look you in the eye with its head held high and offer all of you a way to counter unemployment and promote the relaunch of the labour market.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today the European Union is suffering a real attack by certain foreign nations on non-compliant, very low-quality products, often even dangerous for the final consumer. An attack that exploits two flaws in our defense system: the first, the possibility for certain online platforms to easily circumvent the rules; and secondly, the fact that Europe has in recent years enacted a series of self-defeating regulations, which often seemed to favour those outside Europe rather than our businesses. It is essential for the European Union today to step up border controls, protect consumers and combat unfair competition. We need to improve cooperation, empower online platforms. Cooperation and accountability: These are the recipes for a stronger Europe that fights illegal trade.

Mr Ceccardi, you spoke today legitimately of the defence of borders and I wanted to ask you about immigration. I wanted to ask you how you combine this position with what the Tuscany Region has decided instead, the region from which you and I come, with the choice to refuse to build a residence center in the Tuscany Region, continuing to say that the model of widespread reception, the one that brought four Tuscan cities to the top four places in the ranking of the ten cities with the most complaints in Italy, is the only way to face immigration.