It is not enough to play throw-ins to defend Europe from the pickaxes of the sovereign and nationalist right. For those who dream of relaunching and renewing Europe, starting with the now imminent elections for the European Parliament, it is time to throw their hearts over the obstacle and go on the counterattack. This is the leitmotiv of the electoral campaign for the European Parliament by Irene Tinagli, economist and author of successful books on the enhancement of talent and against the triumph of ignorance and incompetence, former deputy in the last national legislature, signatory with Carlo Calenda of the "We are Europeans" Manifesto and now a candidate for the Democratic Party in the North West who aims to express the most innovative tendencies of civil society. "To get out of the quicksand of stagnation and override the vetoes of the countries of the Visegrad group, the idea of a two-speed Europe, with Italy in the leading group, can no longer be a taboo" explains Tinagli in this interview with FIRSTonline. But in addition to the general political perspective, the new Europeanism must be enriched with contents that collect the citizens' questions and which for Tinagli are mainly four: fair taxation, fair work, employment and innovation. Let's hear what it is.
In the introduction to your latest book "The Great Ignorance", dedicated to the incredible incompetence in politics, you argued that writing a book on this subject is the best way to attract all kinds of criticism. Your electoral campaign for the European Parliament is an excellent thermometer in this regard: what is in store for you? More disagreements or more appreciation for his counter-current act?
“I must say that this electoral campaign for the renewal of the European Parliament is a nice surprise for me. I meet so many people who demand seriousness and professionalism from the candidates. I see it in all the regions and in all the territories of the North-West where I am a candidate for the Democratic Party and it is a transversal demand from people of different social backgrounds who confess that they are fed up with propaganda, free poisons, fake news and who want to reason and listen to constructive proposals for change, but the real one and not the one advertised by the Lega-Cinque Stelle government. Finally, the majority of citizens show that they understand perfectly that being represented by serious politicians is not a privilege of the elite but a right, especially of the weakest part of the population”.
But why did you decide to stand as a candidate in the European elections? And what is the first thing you would like to do in the European Parliament if you are elected?
“Applying is not a walk in the park and for those who have a professional activity and a family it is not an easy choice. But I ran as a candidate to give a signal of civil and political commitment in the first person. It is not enough to criticize the often unfortunate choices of the Government, and to be horrified by the regressive cultural climate that characterizes our time, but it is necessary to do something more and put our face on it. That's why I decided to take a step forward and apply. It didn't seem right to hold back: indignation at the reality we are facing and which is ruining our country needs to be accompanied by a proposal for a constructive commitment to reform in the name of Europe. But there is another good sign that is emerging from this electoral campaign”.
What?
“The desire and need for unity of the entire centre-left. I come from civil society and I am not part of any party current but I find a lot of respect and interest in the liberal democratic culture of which I feel a part, as evidenced by the thousands of citizens who have signed the "We are European" Manifesto which I promoted together to the former minister Carlo Calenda. And in the same way, I have great respect for all the political-cultural tendencies of the centre-left area, united by the passion and desire for redemption for the most innovative and supportive part of the country. Finally, in this European campaign, the centre-left is demonstrating that it knows how to unite on the things that matter without too many distinctions and that it has a great desire to get out of the emergency into which the government has pushed the country. Earlier you asked me what is the first thing I would like to do if elected to the European Parliament: I work in the economy and I confess that I would like to be part of the competent Commissions to engage in an open cultural and political battle on some key issues for the relaunch and the renewal of the economy”.
What are your priorities on programs?
“There are four of them: fair taxation, fair work, employment and innovation in companies. Above all in terms of taxation, it seems to me that the battle for a fair, supportive and transparent system that eliminates tax havens in the European Union, establishes a minimum tax below which one cannot go to avoid unfair competition between European companies and identifies rules to counter tax avoidance by web multinationals. It seems to me that I can say that the conditions for a step forward on this terrain are perhaps also ripening in France and Spain”.
What do you propose for fair work?
“Common basic protections for workers in the European Union (leaves, holidays, minimum wage) to reduce inequalities and social dumping in countries that lower production costs by transferring them to those who work. On the other hand, I am not convinced by the hypotheses of a universal European subsidy, while I find the proposals already advanced by former minister Pier Carlo Padoan for the establishment of a European fund to support employment-oriented investments, active policies, training and the employability of young people in times of employment crisis. In short, we created the State-saving Fund and now we have to create the Job-saving Fund”.
Finally there is the question of businesses and innovation: what are your proposals?
“I think that European industrial policy must mainly be strengthened, pushing investments, innovation and research to face the competition from giants such as China. But it is also necessary to facilitate the access of small and medium-sized enterprises to European funds, too often not spent and not used and not always their fault: the bureaucracy is too heavy”.
Beyond the individual programmatic points, what is the idea of Europe that you are advocating against sovereignty but also against a bureaucratic Europe distant from the peoples?
“It is the idea of a more united and courageous Europe on the key policies of modernisation, development and security of the Continent. It is time for Europe to be more daring and to get out of immobility by deciding by majority vote on reforms and bypassing the vetoes of those countries - especially the Visegrad bloc - which have received a lot of funds from the European Union but are opposed in every way to advance the political unity of Europe. We need to be very clear on this point and I say without shyness that the idea of a two-speed Europe, in which Italy is in the leading group together with the founding countries, can no longer be a taboo and that it is not tolerable that some countries condemn the Union to a condition of perennial stalemate”.
The Democratic Party, in whose lists you are a candidate, says that in Europe we need a broad reformist and pro-European front that goes from Macron to Tsipras but in concrete terms which alliance policy will you practice in the European Parliament? Will you ally with the socialists or with Macron or will you decide, one by one, on the contents with a strategy of alliances with variable geometry?
“I think we can aim for a broad alliance that brings together the historical centre-left parties, the Macron group and the liberal democrats of the Alde as long as the objectives of development, reform and progress of the European process are clear”.
But, in your opinion, what European economic policy lies ahead if sovereignty prevails and what if the Popular-Socialist axis is instead confirmed?
“Unfortunately, if the sovereignists were to win, who are opposed to solidarity both on an economic level and on civil and social rights, rigorism and the harshest austerity would triumph, with all due respect to all the illusions of the League and Salvini, as well as the Five stars. If, on the contrary, the centre-left group wins, I think it will be possible to adopt a more flexible economic policy that is more oriented towards rational development based on investment and innovation”.
