Despite the seventy-odd paragraphs in which the conclusions of the European Council of March 19 and 20 in Brussels, theEuropean Union risks showing all its irrelevance in one of the most critical phases of recent history with the crisis in the Middle East, the war in Iran and the situation in Ukraine.
Today's summit should have been the one needed to put the commitments down on paper competitiveness e simplification discussed a month ago at Alden Biesen's retreat. The war in Iran has revolutionized the agenda not to the point of making the 27 make a political move but by falling back on the measures necessary to contain the effects of the war and make the burdens less burdensome. high energy costs arising from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Needless to say, the crisis is forcing individual Member States to adopt different recipes, especially those like theItaly and they pay much higher energy bills.
The conclusions of the summit include a general condemnation of military actions outside of international law (without however citing Usa e Israel) and a reminder of the importance of multilateralism, which will be discussed today at breakfast with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the working lunch. First, in the morning, there will be the now standard meeting with the Ukrainian president. Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the 90 billion loan decided in December (now blocked by Hungary due to damage to the Druzhba pipeline carrying the crude from Russia via Ukraine) in addition to the issue of military supplies following the attack on Iran from which Moscow is effectively taking advantage.
On the 90 billion loan the order from the party is that "the given word must be respected, it is not an optional" but the Hungarian Prime Minister He believes that Ukraine is deliberately slowing down repairs to the Druzhba gas pipeline ahead of the Hungarian elections on April 12. Kiev denies this, but a "crisis of confidence" has apparently arisen, which is being addressed by a technical mission from the EU Commission currently in Ukraine.
The problem of the twentieth package of sanctions, also blocked by Hungary. Linked to the Russia issue, Italy – together with its Med5 partners – also raised the issue of the LNG tanker adrift in the Mediterranean, urging a "common approach" to ensure navigation safety and prevent a potential environmental disaster.
As regards competitiveness, the discussion on the dossier should start this afternoon. Meloni the problem to be addressed is that of expensive pricesItaly has an electricity cost of approximately 129 Euro/MWh compared to 72,88 in France and 47 in Spain. A problem shared with Poland and other Eastern European countries and the Baltics. The Prime Minister asks “short-term measures” to immediately reduce the cost but also an intervention on the Ets mechanism (European Union Emissions Trading System) which is the European Union's main financial and climate policy mechanism for reducing emissions. greenhouse gas emissions, based on the “polluter pays” principle.
The Italian strategy is no longer just "suspension" tout court (although the possibility remains on the table) but a more targeted intervention. Meloni sent a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and to the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, together with the leaders of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to ask for bring forward the review of ETS 1 to May and to extend the free quotes over 2034Furthermore, the decree passed Wednesday aims to contain energy prices with aid for low-income earners and truck drivers. At today's summit, the Italian Prime Minister will seek support from German Chancellor Merz, but it seems almost certain that the 27 will not be able to find a unified solution on this point either.
