Mario Draghi has chosen Genoa for his first visit dedicated to an Italian city. After the close of the tense game at the Quirinale, the Prime Minister seems ready to govern without delay, concentrated on reboot, and proceed promptly on the many dossiers open on the executive table. From the fight against Covid, to the tight deadlines to reach the objectives of the Pnrr, from justice reform to interventions against the increase in bills. It is precisely on this last issue that the former number one of the ECB will soon reassure "a far-reaching intervention" during his visit to Genoa.
President Draghi first stopped at the port, then at the Clearing of Memory for a meeting with the families of the victims of the collapse of the Morandi Bridge and finally at the base camp of the Third Pass site in Trasta. “Recent history and the courage of the Genoese show us how to restart after a tragedy. My hope is that the same spirit of rebirth can pervade Italy”, said the premier.
Mario Draghi in Genoa: Pnrr
During his trip to Liguria, the Italian premier also spoke of the Pnrr. “The speed and efficiency of the port call are fundamental for our exports and for the entire productive sector. Today the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, together with the Extraordinary Programme, allow us to make the Port of Genoa even more competitive and safer”. And on the Port of Genoa he added: “we are using 500 million for the new breakwater, to allow access to new generation ships, strengthen safety, facilitate maneuvers. We simplify the procedures for strategic planning and reform the rules for concessions”.
The Pnrr, Draghi said, “belongs to all Italians. We must carry it forward with unity, trust, determination". And he recalled that in 2021 "we have achieved all the objectives" and that the same will happen again this year. “It is a matter of seriousness towards the citizens and our European partners. And it is a question of reliability because sustained, fair, sustainable growth is the best guardian of stability”. An opportunity to relaunch the territory but also employment, given that with the Pnrr "new job opportunities will be created for thousands of people throughout the Region".
But to do this you have to knock them down bureaucratic obstacles and speed up digitization. Draghi then recalled that Italy is in nineteenth place for times and costs associated with logistics, also due to bureaucratic burdens and the digital divide. “We intend to expand the infrastructure to accommodate ever-increasing traffic. We want to improve the connection between ports, road networks, railways, to face the competition from the other Mediterranean and Northern European ports. Accelerate the digitization of the entire logistics chain, to promote flexibility and reduce inefficiencies. And simplify administrative procedures to facilitate flows”.
Mario Draghi in Genoa: expensive bills
“The government does not forget the present and the present today shows us a reality characterized by the difficulties that families and businesses have due to the increase in electricity prices. We are preparing a far-reaching intervention in the next few days” against expensive energy. There is talk of 4-5 billion euros, to be added to the 10,5 already on the table, and which should cover the second quarter of the year. However, a figure that is far from that required by some majority parties, Lega and Cinque Stelle in primis, which are pushing for another deficit. But Draghi is determined and despite the pressure in Parliament: no new debt. The new intervention would concern resources recovered from previous measures to support the activities affected by Covid, without touching the budget. At the moment this is the prime minister's "hard" line and there seems to be no flexibility given that Europe has explicitly told us to be careful with spending.
The Third Giovi Pass – Genoa Junction
The last stop of the Prime Minister's visit was at the Third Pass site, the new Genoa-Milan high-speed railway line that will allow the transfer of goods and passengers to the center of Europe from 2024 with a significant reduction in travel issues. “The excavations of the Third Pass tunnels have reached 77% of the total, for a total cost of 7,4 billion already financed. Reasonably in 2024-2025 we will have the completion of the tests of the Third Pass tunnel, after which in 2026-2027 we can get to have the quadrupling of the line from Tortona ". He said it the managing director of the FS Group Luigi Ferraris after having finished illustrating the progress of the work on the Third Pass to Prime Minister Draghi.
“In 2021 we excavated 14.500 meters and we are working to complete the Third Pass tunnel at the end of 2024 as planned. For the first time, bringing goods to Genoa will be more competitive than taking them to Rotterdam” added the number one of the Railways, who together with the CEO of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana Vera Fiorani, the CEO of Italferr Andrea Nardinocchi and the extraordinary government commissioner for the work Calogero Mauceri, accompanied the Premier during the visit. Also present were the president of the Liguria Region Giovanni Toti and the mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci together with Pietro Salini, CEO of Webuild who leads the consortium in charge of building the new infrastructure.
