“It has been a very busy 15 days. The referendum result will not be canceled and we are well aware of it, but the work done by the Renzi government, of which I was a part, must not be canceled either ". With these words, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni opened his end-of-year press conference in the Chamber, after having chaired the Council of Ministers which this morning approved the milleproroghe decree and appointed the new undersecretaries.
“WE WILL CONTINUE ON THE ROAD OF REFORMS”
“The government will continue on the path of reforms – added the Prime Minister – The message is very simple: we are not finished and above all we are not joking. There are chapters to complete and others to focus our efforts on. For me the keywords are work, young people and the south. Not because little has been done so far, but because of the distance between the efforts made and the results achieved. And the goal of completing the reforms is not my penchant, but a requirement of the country, because it's good for the economy. I know that continuity in the government team, which we have just completed with the appointment of undersecretaries, is considered by some to be a limitation. There is always a desire for something new and surprising. I accept the criticism, but I claim this choice on a political level. I rather hope for a discontinuity on the unheard-of violence that has taken place in public confrontation, especially online, during this 2016”.
"WORK AND NOON: SOME THINGS TO REVIEW"
“At work and in the South there are some things that need to be reviewed – continued Gentiloni – we have to ask ourselves if the tax credit needs some corrections, for example. I think we have done a very good job reform. I think that, in the context of the Italian economy and the job replacement that is underway throughout the West, our numbers of permanent jobs and the reduction (albeit very limited) of unemployment go in the right direction. Certainly there is something to correct and change, for example in vouchers, which however are not a virus that sows undeclared work in society. Indeed, the introduction of this mechanism for ancillary work is an attempt to bring out a part of this undeclared work. But there are things that don't work: excesses, probably sectors in which the use of vouchers will be limited. We need to figure out how to fix what's wrong without turning this into the mother of all problems in our labor market. Yesterday you read the numbers connected to the vouchers: about 47 full-time workers a year and about 0,23% of the cost of labour. I'm not saying that everything is fine, the abuses must be corrected, but considering the issue in its real dimension".
"ELECTION LAW: NO GOVERNMENT PROPOSAL, WE WILL FACILITATE THE COMPARISON IN PARLIAMENT"
As far as the new electoral law is concerned, the Government's position has not changed: “We will not make any proposals – reiterated the Premier – However, the government will try to make a contribution to facilitate the parliamentary discussion. I also add soliciting it, because solicitude in this discussion is not related to the greater or lesser duration of the government but is a requirement of our democratic system. Then the duration of the government is decided by the Parliament and by the majorities. But we must have a homogeneous mechanism of electoral rules: it is an interest of the institutions, not of those who want to extend the legislature. Voting is not a threat: stability cannot imprison democracy".
“MEDIASET, NO GOLDEN POWER. ON MPS WE DID WHAT WE HAD TO DO"
On the corporate side, Gentiloni assured that “the government is watching Vivendi's takeover of Mediaset with attention: we are aware of the importance of that private group for Italy and we are aware that it operates in an important sector. But there are no golden powers to be exercised in this area. There are guarantee authorities who can ask themselves this problem if they want. In any case, a climb in such an important sector does not leave us indifferent". On Mps “we have to get used to the idea that it will be a long journey. There will be a dialectic. There is an industrial recovery process that must involve the bank. We did what was right and necessary."
“G7 PRESIDENCY: WE WILL FOCUS ON MEDITERRANEAN CENTRALITY AND CLOSER TO RUSSIA”
Furthermore, from an international point of view, “the coming year will be challenging for Italy – underlined the head of government – From Monday we will enter the UN Security Council. We will then assume the rotating presidency of the G7 and the Italy that will face these appointments will in some ways be the Italy we know: we don't have many pulpits that can preach to us since the Second World War on the coherence of our foreign policy. We will try to use the presidency of the G7 for two objectives: to affirm the centrality of the Mediterranean (mare nostrum cannot become mare nullius) and to contribute to having different relations with Russia. It is not a question of giving up our principles, but of avoiding a return to ideological frameworks typical of the Cold War which make no sense in the current situation”.
“PROUD OF THE WORK DONE IN THESE YEARS”
Gentiloni also claimed the reforms launched by the previous government: “Italy must be proud of the work done in recent years. A certain level of security was also guaranteed on the occasion of very important events, such as the Jubilee. Often surrounded by a thunderous European solitude, Italy has also managed to manage substantial migratory flows with balance and humanity, even if the question is very open. The economy has grown, albeit at a rate that we would like to be higher. Permanent employment has also increased: about 700 more jobs, two-thirds of which are permanent. But in the under 40 age group the work to be done is still enormous. We have lowered taxes and secured savings with the decree of about a week ago, the implementation of which will be long and complicated. Italy has more rights and has had more attention at an international level”.
“THE DIFFICULTIES: THE EARTHQUAKE, TERRORISM, SOCIAL DISORDER”
Finally, "in these moments of reporting we must not overlook the difficulties - concluded Gentiloni - The first is that which derives from the earthquake: perhaps the fact that it occurred through successive shocks has not made us aware as a national community of the gravity and extent of the earthquake, which has no recent precedent. We must not forget the victims we have had, I remember the last Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, for terrorist attacks which a civilized country must not fail to remember. There are no countries that are not at risk but we will make every effort to prevent the occurrence of these threats. And I remember the social unease that makes some social strata of the middle class feel like losers. The government in the coming year will do its best and will devote itself exclusively to the country's problems. It will do so by pursuing and completing the reforms that have been initiated. It will do so to mend the many lacerations that have opened up in our social fabric and recover its historical cohesion, which is indispensable for the future of our country".
