Relaxing signals on the front of the agreement on migrants. They were sent by the President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker, who thanked the Member States, which "have shown solidarity for their contribution to the 3 billion support package for Turkey to manage immigration flows". “I especially thank Italy”, said Juncker himself, speaking at the European Parliament, where European strategies are being discussed this morning in view of the EU summit in February and how to definitively avert Brexit.
Juncker's words specifically addressed to Italy reflect his intention to get out of the scheme of jokes and counter-jokes between Brussels and Rome as soon as possible. Juncker added that “i 3 billion for Turkey must be made available and we all have to respect our commitments: even the Italian government, in the meantime, has declared itself available and this is a positive fact that I recognize”.
From Dakar, in Senegal, the Italian premier Matteo Renzi for his part, he reaffirmed his willingness to concretely tackle the problem of immigration: “We need a strategy for the next few years and Italy will make every effort to save the peoples at sea. We are honored to be human and the new humanism means no longer allowing people to die at sea". In his speech at the Ukad 2 university, the premier confirmed Italy's line, adding that "at the same time we must do something together to give young people job opportunities" and reaffirming Italy's commitment to increase cooperation funds international.
Italy, however, would have asked that the document on the three billion EU fund for the management of migrants in Turkey include its request for unbundled from the deficit calculation under the Stability and Growth Pact also "the entire amount of costs incurred by Italy since the beginning of the crisis in Libya". This entry was denied by the Ministry of Economy late Wednesday evening: “In the statement included in the minutes of today's Coreper meeting there is no additional demand for flexibility“. In the press release, the Mef recalls that “Italy has asked for the same yardstick used for Syria to be used for Libya. This event (the Libyan crisis, ed) “has in fact caused an exceptional flow of migrants and the consequent rescue, reception and recognition activities have generated expenses that must be treated in the national accounts in a similar way to the exceptional expenses incurred for the Syrian crisis. Since the Italian coasts have always been affected by the landing of migrants from North Africa, the thresholds that can be considered physiological were identified in the 2016 budget planning document and therefore evidence was provided of the increase in expenditure due to exceptional circumstances". Hence the request for 0,2% flexibility.
Juncker did not intervene on this, but the president of the EU Commission, responding indirectly to the Italian Minister Pier Carlo Padoan who just today returned to the subject, however he specified that he did not intend to add additional elements of flexibility in the interpretation of the Stability and Growth Pact. “The current tools are largely sufficient to allow the different countries, even those grappling with the worst difficulties, to be able to propose budgets that correspond to all the rules and requirements,” President Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament.
(Text updated at 13,04 pm on 4 February 2016)
