“Italy must play an active role in helping to lead Europe along the path of stability and growth”. This was stated this morning by the Prime Minister, Mario Monti, in a report to the Chamber. The Premier explained the contents of the interview held yesterday with the chancellor German, Angela Merkel, and the guidelines that Italy intends to follow in its European policy.
As for the new European fiscal pact, “it won't be at 27 – continued the Prime Minister – due to the non-membership of the United Kingdom. It will probably be at 26. The intergovernmental conference for this new treaty is underway, at an advanced stage, and the Italian government is pursuing three fundamental objectives: ensure the unity and integrity of EU law and the institutional framework, promoting a rapid future integration of the new international treaty within the Union treaty, in line with the Italian tradition of favoring the community method; The second one Italy's objective with respect to the rules governing public finances is to avoid the introduction of more rigid constraints, procedural limits or further sanctions compared to those of the stability pact, after the six pack reform approved by the council and the Parliament only a few months ago. If the declared objective is to give the Union a more solid economic pillar, it is necessary to balance the rules with provisions for growth and competitiveness by strengthening economic integration".
EUROPE FOCUSES ON GROWTH
Without prejudice to the pillar of budgetary discipline, “it is important that we go further. Without forgetting it, but more constructive political energy must be invested in terms of growth. It is not a matter of trying to achieve growth, which would be ephemeral, by returning to deficit behavior or loose monetary policies, but it is a matter of exploiting all the potential that an integrated continent can offer in order to grow more. This has not yet been done by either the European institutions or the member states". Therefore, Monti explained, "we want to be at the table on financial discipline but also at the table on other topics also because, as I often say to Merkel, greater growth even in the medium term is an indispensable condition for maintaining financial discipline".
AFTER THE FISCAL COMPACT BCE MORE RELAXED
“Everything is held together, everything is linked – Monti said again – it is not excluded that the ECB itself, whose decisions we cannot enter into, after the agreement on the fiscal compact has been acquired at a constitutional level, which also includes the transposition into terms of the balanced budget rule in the Constitution, in short, once the European context is structurally disciplined on the budget, it may be that the ECB in its independence will feel more relaxed”. And therefore, perhaps, slow down or interrupt the program for the purchase of bonds from European countries in difficulty - which "is not eternal", as President Mario Draghi has repeatedly stressed -, including Italy.
BILATERAL MEETINGS ALSO WITH POLAND AND THE UNITED KINGDOM
"I spoke of bilateral agreements not only with Germany and France but also with Poland and the United Kingdom" because "they are two large countries that are not members of the euro area but which have a vision of growth through market competitiveness, a vision that is useful for them and for the European economy”.
PARLIAMENT'S SUPPORT IS FUNDAMENTAL
"It is very important" that "before and above" the action of the government in Europe there is "the orientation of the Parliament: for us - observed Monti - it is essential to count on the direction and contribution of the Parliament".
