Enrico Letta arrived in Berlin on the day his government officially took office, after gaining the confidence of the Senate as well. After the traditional military honors in the space in front of the Chancellery, the new Prime Minister and Mrs Merkel held a private conversation, culminating in a brief press conference lasting about ten minutes.
In wishing the new prime minister a good job, the German Chancellor almost wanted to respond to the words pronounced by Enrico Letta in his inaugural speech given on April 29 in front of the Chamber of Deputies. Of "austerity alone you die" the Prime Minister had said, evidently addressing the unwelcome German diktats. "For us in Germany – Mrs. Merkel replied – fiscal consolidation and growth are not contradictory to each other, but are two elements that must be developed together to lead to greater competitiveness and employment". Hence the invitation to continue with reform efforts, given that Italy has already covered "a considerable stretch of road".
Letta, comforted by the similar positions of the center-right allies, however increased the dose, underlining the difference that exists between a policy purely oriented towards recovery and a policy for growth. However, he did not want to mention concrete examples of the latter. What is certain is that, beyond the cordial atmosphere, Italian-German relations will continue to stagnate in the short term. Berlin is very concerned that Rome is dangerously playing with the fire of excessive deficit procedure. Witness the sparks in the majority on compliance with the budget balances agreed for 2013. Letta gave reassurances, but the feeling is that Germany continues not to trust Italy's commitment. Or at least, there is the awareness that the transition of the so-called "service government" must sooner or later cause some serious headache.
Almost all the German media highlighted this tension in yesterday's bilateral meeting, highlighting the birth of a hypothetical France-Italy axis to isolate Germany. In other words, Letta would already be destined to be a big disappointment for the Chancellor from the outset, more or less as Mario Monti was, to whom Mrs. Merkel nevertheless wanted to pay homage, accompanying him with a warm thank you to the President of the Republic , Giorgio Napolitano, for his ability to lead the country in such a difficult moment.
In short, for the conservative Die Welt, Enrico Letta would be yet another “Italian who doesn't want to save money” and who asks to be able to untie the purse strings to end with austerity. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, on the contrary, emphasized the prime minister's strong desire for collaboration and his attempt to restore prestige to Italian-German relations. The tone of the weekly Der Spiegel is not very different. On the same line as Die Welt, even if the political message is the opposite, is instead the progressive Süddeutsche Zeitung, with the headline: "A rebel against savings at the Chancellery". According to the editorialist of the SZ, the Prime Minister would have even spoken on behalf of all the victims of the crisis, deepened by the policies desired by Germany.
In short, despite the distrust of the establishment, even in Berlin there is someone who hopes in Enrico Letta.
