“The Tav is not an Italian-French problem, it is an Italian-Italian problem. We have always had the same position. I believe that whenever there are issues of national or domestic division of a country in the European Council, time is lost and I don't have much to lose". With these words, pronounced in the night after the long Brussels summit on Brexit, the French president Emmanuel Macron replied remotely to the Italian premier Giuseppe Conte, on the request for a discussion on the Turin-Lyon, opening a new front of the clash between Italy and France. Then there was the confrontation, in a bilateral meeting this morning on the sidelines of the European Council.
"A fruitful meeting", said Conte at the end of the interview, the first between the Italian premier and the French president since the days of the French ambassador's withdrawal. "On the Tav we shared a method - added the Prime Minister - we will report to our respective competent ministers, Toninelli and Bourne, who will have the task of analyzing the results of the cost-benefit analysis and on that basis open a discussion, a discussion open". On Macron's harsh phrases pronounced during the night, Conte minimized: "The French president explained to me that since he saw that in Italy the political forces are very involved and have taken diametrically opposite positions, he wanted to avoid getting involved in an internal political debate , to avoid the pressure that you journalists were giving them”.
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But the tension is there, and it has been further fueled by the absence of the top management of Palazzo Chigi on the occasion of the gala dinner at Palazzo Farnese organized last night by the French ambassador Christian Masset: a diplomatic effort made precisely in an attempt to mend relations with Italy, but that cannot be said to have been successful. Indeed, the government, invited with great fanfare with three of its representatives (these were the undersecretary to the presidency of the Council, Giancarlo Giorgetti, the undersecretary for relations with Parliament Simone Valente of the 5 Stars and the minister of agriculture Gianmarco Centinaio of the Lega), did not he intruduced himself.
Going back to the Tav, the situation remains stalled after the cost-benefit analysis desired by the Government, which, despite the contrary opinion of the local communities and the commitments already made with France and the European Union, could lead the executive to stop or re-discuss the work . Italy today he still has five and a half months to withdraw the tenders launched on the work without paying penalties. But both the Yes Tav and the No Tav continue to press on the government to get a definitive answer: in Rome on Saturday the No militants will take to the streets with associations that are also opposed to other major works, while businesses and trade unions announce that the 6 April they will once again be in the square in Turin with all those who are in favor of the high-speed line.
