The visit of French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire to Rome has something of the flavor of a showdown. Just as at home the newspaper Les Echos (close to President Emmanuel Macron) celebrates its popularity, due according to an editorial to its ability "to gain weight by hiding", Le Maire will instead have to do just the opposite in his face to face with the his Italian counterpart Roberto Gualtieri: he will in fact have to expose himself, because the dossiers on the table are different and all very delicate. A foretaste has already appeared in the Italian newspapers: in an interview with Repubblica, the transalpine minister went on the attack on the issues of Mes, on which the Italian government will have to dissolve the reserve by 9 December, and of the debt linked to Covid: “Italy adopts the Mes to avoid new shocks and to ensure that the country is not stigmatized by the markets. The State-saving fund is a life insurance policy, an additional safety net for the banking sector and therefore for all European savers”.
The comment on the debt linked to Covid is also oriented towards the utmost attention towards the markets and a common approach at the Community level: "It must be treated separately, because it derives from an exceptional situation, but it must absolutely be repaid: the cancellation would not be the message right to send to investors, and the EU must remain attractive to investors”. However, there are not only questions of a general nature on the table for Le Maire's day in Rome: there is also the financial case of the moment, which once again sets fire to the Italy-France axis. Just yesterday Parliament received, with the favorable vote of the entire compact majority, the definitive go-ahead for the so-called "save-Mediaset" rule, which in the intentions of the executive will have to protect Berlusconi's company from the assault by the French group, canceling for now the effects of an EU ruling in September which retired the Gasparri law on telecommunications, the one that prevented Vivendi from rising to 28,8% of the Biscione.
The group headed by Vincent Bollorè and chaired by Arnaud De Puyfontaine did not take it well and Le Maire will also be the ambassador of this match. There is also a background: a few days ago Minister Gualtieri had a telephone conversation with De Puyfontaine, asking Vivendi not to interfere in the single network project, i.e. the Telecom-Open Fiber integration. However, the project is still on the high seas due to Enel's reticence, even if in the meantime the CEO Francesco Starace has raised the possibility of settling the matter within a few weeks. The key date should be December 17, when the next Enel board of directors will meet. The position of Vivendi, which is present in Tim's capital with 24%, has not yet been disclosed. All while next spring the board of the former Telecom Italia expires, where the American fund Elliot now has the majority of directors, but could lose control precisely to the advantage of the French.
