"Only in Italy do the considerations coming from the European institutions occupy entire pages of newspapers while other countries are much more accustomed to accepting suggestions and then doing as they see fit without creating a national psychodrama". The premier said so this morning Matteo Renzi, speaking to the House ahead of the European summit scheduled for next week in Brussels.
In particular, according to the Prime Minister, "the discussion on commas that we are having in Italy at the moment" with regard to the public accounts is significant, "given the fact that Italy is the country with the most significant deficit descent path and, compared to other countries that are always cited as points of reference for growth, it has a deficit that is less than half. It is one thing to achieve significant growth rates with a 2,4% deficit, another thing with 5,1%: any reference to Spain is purely intentional".
The only positive point “that I have seen in recent months – continued Renzi – is having fixed the appointment in Rome on 25 March 2017 as the final date of an unprecedented journey: 60 years after the signing of the Treaties establishing the European communities, the 27 countries will meet in the Eternal City and try to imagine a future. It is an appointment of great importance, it can be a crucial, decisive watershed. My proposal is that the parliamentary groups, in the forms and autonomy they deem appropriate, help, as the Strasbourg Parliament did, without distinction, working together on the basis of specific proposals and a shared ideal", in view of the Rome.
As for the question of migrants, for the Premier “it is essential that Italy is the promoter of a very tough position towards those countries that have received a lot of funds and in this phase are dissociating themselves from their formally assumed commitments on relocation. On this point I would like the mandate to be strong and as broad as possible, not just that of the majority. The EU budget will have to refer to those who say no and yes to relocation".
Renzi did not spare a general attack on the policies of the European Union, whose "response to international crises seems to be characterized by frenetic immobility". Finally, on Brexit, “we are very clear that the debate on article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty cannot keep the institutions still for another year. If between now and next year the debate were only on article 50, further time would be thrown away in a historical moment in which nobody has time to lose. We need to set up a different, very difficult strategy: it is a question of imagining an unprecedented path".
