"This political project marks the beginning of a new and we believe decisive reforming season". The prime minister said, Giuseppe Conte, in the keynote speech held this morning in the Chamber of Deputies to ask for the trust of the new government.
“It is a far-reaching political project, including a cultural one – he added – We undertake to take care of words, to use a more appropriate vocabulary, more respectful of people and the diversity of ideas. The government's language will be a mild language, because we are aware that the strength of our actions will not be measured by the arrogance of our words”.
Then a quote from Saragat: “Let the face of this republic be a human face. Remember that democracy is not only a relationship between majority and minority, but above all a problem of relationships between man and man. Where these relationships are human, democracy exists; where they are inhuman, it is but the mask of a new tyranny.
Conte then explained the frame values of the goal he defined new humanism: “The primacy of the person; work as the supreme social value; equality; the principle of secularism and the protection of freedom of religion; the repudiation of war and the promotion of peace".
As for the economic scenario, “the current tensions oblige us to define a broad-based and long-term agenda. We must restore a perspective of hope to young people, to low-income families, as well as to the entire production system". The challenge is "to expand participation in working life to hitherto excluded groups, especially young people and women, primarily in the South".
KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL
“The first intervention will be on nursery schools: we cannot linger any longer. Strengthening the offer of education right from the nursery is a strategic investment for society, because it fights social inequalities and favors the integration of women into social and working life”.
“The first measure that we will take in coordination with the Regions in favor of less well-off families is the total zeroing of the fees for attendance of nursery schools starting from the next school year 2020 and 2021. We will also increase the places available, especially in the South. These measures are also designed to support the birth rate".
“As far as the school is concerned, it is necessary to guarantee the right valorisation, including economic value, for teachers, in line with what happens in others. It is necessary to counter the precariousness with competitions that value experience but also merit”.
"We will also evaluate measures for less well-off families especially for the increase in compulsory schooling".
INNOVATION AND DIGITALIZATION
“We wanted to create a ministry for technological innovation and digitization that would help businesses as well as the public administration transform Italy into a smart nation. An efficient investment policy will make us grow in robotization and artificial intelligence. Innovation does not only concern industry, but all sectors of the economy and society. We must work to ensure that all citizens have a digital identity within a year".
INFRASTRUCTURE
“Infrastructure is essential to start sustainable growth. We will make the concession system more efficient by relentlessly overhauling the entire system.
As for the revision of the concession for the motorways after the tragedy of the Morandi bridge, "I want to clarify that this government will complete the process without any discount for private interests".
THE GREEN NEW DEAL
“The goal of the green new deal it is to promote urban regeneration, the energy conversion towards renewable sources, the protection of biodiversity
“We want to introduce legislation that no longer allows the granting of concessions for drilling for the extraction of hydrocarbons. Those who will come after us, if they ever want to assume the irresponsibility of making the country go back, will have to do so by modifying this new law".
"I hope that environmental protection will be included among the fundamental principles of our constitutional system".
"We must promote the circular economy, the culture of recycling and abandon the culture of waste".
RECONSTRUCTION OF EARTHQUAKE AREAS
Also on the way are “measures against hydrogeological instability and for the reconstruction of earthquake-stricken areas. We need organic legislation that allows procedures to be speeded up, especially for public reconstruction. Reconstruction will be a primary issue for this government”.
PLAN FOR THE SOUTH
“The action to relaunch investment passes through the reduction of the gap between North and South. An extraordinary investment plan is needed for the South also through a public investment bank that helps businesses and boosts the accumulation of physical capital and human. We must intervene so that institutional development contracts and European funds are used effectively”.
TOURISM
“Tourism is a crucial sector: it produces more than 10% of the GDP. We must invest in this sector starting with a reform of public governance”.
TAX: FIGHT AGAINST EVASION
Italians have the right to deal with a clear and transparent tax system. We need simplification of the discipline. The primary objective is to lighten the tax burden while respecting public finance constraints. The strategy of this government is clear: everyone must pay taxes, absolutely everyone, so that everyone can pay less". The Premier also spoke of "harder penalties for tax evasion, including prison sentences for major tax evaders".
CUT TO THE TAX WEDGE
“With a view to a gradual remodeling of tax rates to support low and middle incomes, our primary objective is to reduce taxes on labour, the so-called tax wedge. And we intend to make this reduction to the total benefit of the workers”.
MINIMUM WAGE AND COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS
“We want to identify a fair wage, the so-called minimum wage, and guarantee maximum protection for workers also through the erga omnes effectiveness of the collective agreements signed by the most representative trade unions”.
TRADE UNION REPRESENTATION
“We need a law on trade union representation based on very strict indices”.
MINIMUM WAGES FOR NON-PROFESSIONALS
“We want to identify minimum wages even for non-employees to avoid abuses that generally afflict young professionals”.
GENDER EQUALITY IN REMUNERATION
“We aim to introduce a law on gender equality in pay. It is a battle that we intend to complete as soon as possible ”.
JOB SECURITY
“We intend to implement a strategic plan for the prevention of accidents at work and occupational diseases”.
SAVINGS PROTECTION
“We will pay maximum attention to the problem of protecting citizens' savings. To this end, it is necessary to acknowledge that the banking, financial and insurance sectors appear to be intertwined and supervisory activities should be better coordinated with each other also at European as well as national level".
THE COVERS OF THE RUN
“The most important challenge will be to avoid the increase in VAT and to start easing the tax wedge. The resources will be found with an organic strategy that will include a quality control of current spending, with spending review activities, a reorganization of tax expenditures and a strategy to fight tax evasion with extensive use of digital tools”.
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS AND ELECTORAL REFORM
“It is our intention to ask for the scheduling of the vote on the constitutional bill which provides for the reduction of the number of parliamentarians. This reform will have to be accompanied by a process aimed at implementing the constitutional guarantees and democratic representation. In particular, it will be necessary to start a path of reform of the electoral system that is as shared as possible. At the same time we intend to reform the requirements for the active and passive electorate in the Chambers. It will be a far-reaching journey, which will take time".
AUTONOMY REFORM
“We want to complete the reform of differentiated autonomies. It will be essential to define the essential levels of services concerning civil and social rights and also the standard needs. The Constitution provides for an equalization fund aimed at guaranteeing all citizens the same quality of services".
JUSTICE REFORM
“Our country needs a justice reform with a drastic reduction of time. We also need to reform the method of electing members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary".
PUBLIC WATER
"We are committed to completing the ongoing legislative process on public water."
HEALTHCARE
Conte also announced an "extraordinary hiring plan for doctors and nurses".
THE STOCCATA TO LEGHIST SOVEREIGNTY
“Defending the national interest does not mean giving in to sterile isolationist retreats, but putting one's homeland above all else, never letting oneself be conditioned by pressure from economic powers and undue external influences. It is within the perimeter of the EU and not outside that we must work to seek the welfare of Italians, updating a project that has ensured peace and prosperity for our citizens for decades. However, we need to work out a common project: a conference on the future of Europe could be useful, I launch the idea, to re-launch a new protagonism for our continent”.
EUROPE AND THE STABILITY PACT
“It is also necessary to improve the Stability and Growth Pact and its application, to simplify its rules, avoid pro-cyclical effects, and support investments starting from those linked to environmental and social sustainability. A pro-cyclical budget approach, in fact, risks frustrating the important efforts made internally to revive the country's potential growth, depressing effective growth. The Government will work in the European offices to implement a sustainable investment plan, to reform the economic and monetary union and the banking union, starting with the establishment of a euro area budget, a European insurance scheme against unemployment and a European deposit guarantee”.
IMMIGRATION
“The epochal migratory phenomenon must be managed with rigor and responsibility, based on a non-emergency but a structural approach. We need a comprehensive set of rules against human trafficking, but which at the same time proves capable of dealing with the issues of integration and repatriation. We can no longer ignore the solidarity of other EU countries, a solidarity announced but still never demonstrated. For example, it is necessary to establish European humanitarian corridors”.
SECURITY DECREES
“We will review the regulations on safety in the light of the remarks of the President of the Republic. Which means recovering the form that the decree had before the additions during the conversion compromised its overall balance”.
FOREIGN POLICY
"Italy must continue along the three fundamental axes: the EU, transatlantic relations and the essential participation in the development of the enlarged Mediterranean".
THE ATTACKS ON BELLANOVA AND DE MICHELI
"I cannot fail to stigmatize the vile attacks directed in recent days to two of my ministers, Senator Teresa Bellanova and the honorable Paola De Micheli to whom I renew my sympathetic closeness".
°°°In the afternoon the League and the Brothers of Italy, speaking in the debate, harshly contested Conte asking for a return to the elections but the premier replied curtly point by point in a tone that was anything but conciliatory ("You are irresponsible"). And in the evening the new government obtained the confidence of the Chamber with 343 Yes and 263 No. Tomorrow the word passes to the Senate.
