“We have not made tools such as the Mes or Sure available to states so that they remain unused”. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who will also assume the temporary presidency of the EU from XNUMX July, goes on the attack and presses Italy on the Mes, exposing all the ambiguities of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Who replies with a hard face, but without going into the merits: “I respect Merkel, but it's me who does the accounting for Italy, with Gualtieri, the Mef technicians and the ministers. We are preparing to present the Recovery plan in September, this is what the comparison with the States General was for". The truth is that Merkel's offensive seems not only to be logically motivated, but also to sting the prime minister who, so as not to disturb the Five Stars who are losing pieces day after day, continues to postpone a clear and favorable pronouncement on the use of the new anti-Covid fund.
“I have a duty to put the national interest first,” Conte says, but he seems instead more oriented towards putting the interest (or survival) of the party that supports his premiership first. It is in fact now recognized by many, even by the same "governmental" component of the 5 Stars, that the Mes can be a more than useful tool: 36 billion for health care costs, including indirect ones, which can be spent immediately, while the Recovery Fund and other mechanisms have yet to be defined and the resources will not be available before 2021. After which the Chancellor, again in the same interview (reported at different times from the agencies), he also extended a hand to Italy, promising commitments to bring home not only loans (the Mes is) but also non-repayable subsidies: "I am working to convince the remaining countries that have so far been in favor of the loans, but against subsidies”, clearly referring to the so-called Frugal Four.
