24 hours before the start of the crucial meeting of European Council, scheduled for March 25 and 26, the Premier Mario Draghi presents himself in Parliament to talk about vaccines and Covid, but also about reopening, industrial policy and the single market.
The prime minister opened his speech to the Senate by expressing his satisfaction with the remote participation of the US president, Joe Biden "to a segment of the Council", a presence which "confirms the will to give a strong impetus to relations with the EU", said the premier.
VACCINES
Draghi then moved on to the hottest topic: the Italian vaccination campaign. The Premier wanted to launch “a message of trust to Italians”. “A year later we must do everything possible to resolve the crisis. We know how to do it, we have 4 safe and effective vaccines, Johnson & Johnson will also arrive in April. The goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest possible time ”, he said, reassuring that the government is working to“ make up for the delay in recent months. The acceleration of the vaccination campaign it is already visible in the data. In the first three weeks of March, the average dose was 170 doses per day, more than double the average of the previous two months. Our goal is to bring the pace to half a million a day".
The Premier then spoke of the gap between Regions on administrations. Differences that “are difficult to accept. The Regions must follow the priorities of the national plan”, especially with reference to protection of the elderly. “Now it is important to proceed quickly, more important to vaccinate the frail and elderly. I am aware that only with the sincere collaboration between the State and the Regions in the name of the unification of Italy will success be complete”.
Draghi's words were anticipated by those of the number one of the Civil Protection, Fabrizio Curcio, which in aCourier interview spoke of the need to establish greater coordination with the regions", defining the road map of vaccinations: "now that we will finish vaccinating the over eighty-year-olds, the fragile categories, the teachers, the armed forces, police and civil protection, it is necessary go back to age groups. The only criterion must be this”.
reopenings
While the vaccination campaign progresses – Draghi continued – it is good start planning reopenings. We are looking closely at the data on infections, but in short if the epidemiological situation allows it the school it will open first, even in the red areas ”, he added.
EUROPA
Draghi then moved on to European issues, explaining that “The pandemic makes the opportunity clear invest in vaccine production capacity in Europe. There is a lot of talk about strategic autonomy, in reference to security and the single market, but the first strategic autonomy is that of vaccines, today ". And about the possibility of predicting a vaccination passport for the free movement of vaccinated people, the premier acknowledged that it is a "complex project", noting that "freedom of movement" must go "hand in hand with health protection".
On the controversies currently underway in Europe relating to delays in deliveries by pharmaceutical companies, the Prime Minister said: "In Europe, we must ask pharmaceutical companies to fully respect their commitmentsin Europe. The European Union must make full use of all available tools, including the EU Regulation for the export of vaccines, approved on January 30. This regulation clarifies the distribution of vaccines outside the EU, in particular to countries that are not in vulnerable conditions, and we believe and have demonstrated that it should be applied when necessary ".
“So far Covax has ensured almost 30 million doses, our hope is to make this mechanism increasingly effective,” continued the premier. “It is necessary on the vaccination campaign strengthen the EU's credibility".
DIGITALIZATION AND THE SINGLE MARKET
The digitization process in the EU “will not be easy. In Italy the Next Generation EU programme offers an enormous possibility, 20% of the funds concern digital transformation, but the development of these sectors cannot ignore the equitable distribution of proceeds. We believe that the EU Council must proceed with a global solution on digital taxation by mid-2021 and I believe it is possible thanks to the contribution of the US with the new administration which in the past showed a complete closure on the hypothesis of a digital tax ", The Italian presidency of the G20 is "the best opportunity to do it".
Finally, on single market, Draghi recalled how he underlined its importance throughout his career, because defending the single market "means defending Italian companies".
