With a somewhat unexpected speech, Draghi presented himself to Parliament and to the country. A longer intervention than expected and above all with greater focus on strictly political issues from the defense of the role of parties that this government does not mortify, to the reaffirmation of pro-European and Atlanticist faith as a basic choice of our country that has given us freedom and well-being.
On the contrary, he was punctual but less detailed on the individual fields of intervention, even if there were hints of substantial changes in the policies followed up to now. A Government of National unity in a situation of such a profound health, economic and social crisis, it is not an option but a duty. Draghi appealed to republican spirit that is, the fact that in the face of the emergency we must all feel like Italian citizens, and above all – in Draghi's words – we should all care about the need to leave a better country to those who will come after us. “We will have to ensure that future generations can thank us and not reproach us for our selfishness”.
This government has the task of starting a new reconstruction (like that of the post-war period) and this depends on the quality of the decisions that will have to be taken and above all on the mutual trust between the political forces and on the desire for recovery of the citizens who will have to be the real protagonists.
A fundamental point is our relationship with Europe : Draghi was keen to clarify ( against the residual doubts of the League ) that the Euro is irreversible and that Italy's role is to collaborate to advance European integration also with the creation of a common budget that can intervene to support economies in adverse cyclical phases. After all, it is not at all true that being alone increases sovereignty. We have seen in the past that, given the integration of markets, smaller countries are at the mercy of the decisions of bigger and more economically strong countries.
Draghi underlined the seriousness of the situation both from a health point of view and from the point of view of the economy and the increase in social inequalities. He wanted to clarify that the post pandemic will not be like before. There won't be a pure and simple return to the past but we will have to prepare for a new world. Hence the need to defeat the virus as quickly as possible but to launch them together health system reforms that they can make up for the serious shortcomings that have come to light in the past months. And above all, it will be necessary to equip our country to face the new which will be greener, more digital, more integrated and therefore more mobile.
To do this it is necessary to correctly set up our plan regarding the Next generation EU, and that is how to use the 209 billion euros that Brussels has promised us in order to change our system to put it in the best conditions to offer job opportunities to the new generations.
Around Draghi let his intentions be understood. In the first place, he said that it will be necessary to carefully evaluate the role of the state which has certainly increased in recent times, but that there is no need to make it a direct manager of many companies. On the other hand, it will be necessary to find the most appropriate ways to stimulate private participation with their capital and management experience, to public investments and the strengthening of businesses. Must renew the school and research and the mention of the higher technical institutes which can offer job opportunities to millions of young people is significant.
Having settled the age-old issue of governance of the Recovery by attributing responsibility to the Ministry of Economy with the participation in particular of the two new ministries of Ecological Transition and Digitization, Draghi focused on the reforms, citing three in particular: that of the PA. that of the taxman and that of Justice.
For all of them he indicated a problem of method rather than concrete objectives, stating that one must always move with a general plan implemented gradually as was done at the time with the tax reform studied by Bruno Visentini. He did not speak of the prescription given that on judicial matters he referred to the general indications that come from Brussels and to which they had not heeded up to now.
On the labor market, he limited himself to emphasizing the need to strengthen the so-called "active policies" to reconvert those who will lose their jobs given that many companies, already previously in crisis, will not be able to withstand the fury of the pandemic. And after all, even state contributions (the so-called refreshments) will have to be directed towards companies that have good prospects of overcoming the crisis, and not distributed to all even those already off the market.
A Government with very innovative ideas compared to the previous ones which, in order to avoid conflicts, were forced into relative immobility. And yet Draghi also appears to be a political end as he has shown himself well aware that all the innovations he will want to bring to our public system and to the functioning of the markets will have to pass for the approval of Parliament. The parties will therefore have to find the strength to change their operating methods, look less at the short term, and at immediate consensus and devote themselves to setting up those changes that can modify our destiny for the next thirty years when, according to the European vision, we will have to achieve zero emissions.
But to do this, public opinion must be well aware of what is at stake and want to capitalize on the sacrifices made so far and which will also have to be made in the coming months, to build a more solid and lasting prospect of rebirth.
