Speeches

Mr President, thank you Commissioner Vălean for being here, thank you also to my fellow Members for being here on a subject that is very sensitive and important, despite the fact that in the Internal Market Committee we did not have the courage to leave the direct expression of why we are here today in the text we approved, we had to delete the references to the Brenner and the Austrian measures. I have many Austrian friends, I have a historic ally for my party in my political group, but, in short, the European Commission must intervene here, the elements are all there. And I would add that the Italian Government is also a little too shy and should defend its businesses a little more, because, Commissioner Vălean said well, there is an issue of proportionality and non-discrimination in the measures that must be put in place. We have an alternative infrastructural project that does not yet require many years from being realized, but we cannot afford to penalize the traffics between Italy and Germany and not only, other countries are involved, between productive realities that are not only destination markets, but that are also integrated markets with each other, because together they make sure that the added value of producing in Europe is positive. The problem is that, if we do not find a solution because of the timidity of the Italian Government or because of the inaction of the European Commission, the Court of Justice will take care, as it has done in the past, to tell you that these measures are unlawful and therefore I would advise the Commission to launch an infringement procedure, it seems to me more than legitimate. Austria will give its reasons and we will see. That is why to see a very active European Commission, for example, on Bolkestein against Italy and helpless on an even more serious situation like the one we are talking about today seems to me quite hypocritical.

Mr President, Vice-Presidents, ladies and gentlemen, I too welcome the new dialogue with the United States: cybersecurity, digital, data management, big global challenges are just some of the important elements to discuss. And it is also good that we are not talking about a free trade agreement, which on issues such as agriculture would take us far and lead us into conflicts that are difficult to resolve, but we have issues on which it is right to reflect. For example, I, of course, like everyone else, welcome the American openings on the subject of steel and aluminium tariffs, but at the moment they only serve a few exporters, but they will only increase the shortage of steel that there is at this time for our producers in Europe, on which I think we will need to intervene further. And then there are issues that concern the geopolitical credibility of us as institutions because, on the one hand, it seems to me - as I have already said other times - we must always be Atlanticists, even when Republicans rule, not only when Democrats rule. And then some cases, such as the one that emerged from a journalistic investigation in recent days that speaks of German engines sold to Chinese warships, when here, even in this Chamber, there are Members who have been sanctioned for their positions on China or others who went to Taiwan a few days ago. I do not want anyone to confuse autonomy with irrelevance, because credibility is at stake here in a transatlantic relationship that must be consistent in all the actions of the European Union and the Member States.

Madam President, Commissioner Šefčovič, ladies and gentlemen, I followed this type of debate even before I was a Member of the European Parliament, in the role I had previously held. I would also like to see a change in the type of relationship that leads us to this because, of course, next month we will be voting on a resolution and we will be able to better analyse the work that the European Commission is putting before it. But what I want to emphasize, before the things of merit, is that the times are tight. Unfortunately, the legislature is already halfway through and, because of a pandemic, because of everything that has happened, we are behind. And this is no one's fault, no doubt, but my invitation is not to be too ambitious, because we already know and we have already seen this with the presentation of the Fit for 55 package that in the Council, legitimately and rightly, there are concerns and the more the Commission presents complex and controversial legislative texts, the longer the time is. This is why I invite you, also on the themes green, always remembering the issue of competitiveness, that is, the impact that these measures must have in order to ensure that we do not then find ourselves chasing or working on proposals that are a little too far away from the needs of the business and workers world. On defense, in my opinion, we can maintain and improve the things that are there now. On trade policy we should, in my opinion, accelerate a bit and then, on the Stability Pact, definitively overcome measures, namely those of austerity, which have proved inadequate in a system free of external shocks, let alone now that we have to get out of a pandemic that has damaged everyone and that we must return to growth and production quickly.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we all know the China dossier, it is very complex, and I must say that the resolution, compared to an attitude that Parliament had in the past a little more fearful, I think has as its novelty the fact that it is more ambitious. Surely it is thanks to the rapporteur, to those who have worked on this file, but also because the situation is very deteriorating: the situation in the South China Sea; provocations in Taiwan; interference in very sensitive areas, such as Afghanistan; Africa, which is being plundered by China; countries that are also indebted. Then in the Committee on International Trade (INTA) we talk a lot about some aspects: the impact that China has on the raw materials market, export restrictions, the restart of European companies at risk due to some situations. All this, however, is no longer valid if we are not courageous and strong enough to be respected and to defend defenseless citizens on human rights issues, including Hong Kong.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I have listened carefully to the High Representative and I must say that I can only agree with her words, but it is clear that the situation has been in the public eye for many years. Since Hariri's murder, it has probably been possible to intervene in what is a situation of political instability due to a situation that perhaps does not exist in the rest of the world, at the level of religious, ethnic or political affiliation complication. In short, that field is not simple, and it is not all the more so for us, who perhaps, just as Europeans – I do not mean only as European institutions – have a particular sometimes irrelevance to global dynamics. Maybe it is because we all have to do more and probably, indeed absolutely, I put myself and my political part in it. As they have already said, there is an incredible capacity of the Lebanese people to withstand an incredible situation. I would add, compared to what you said, the external interference makes everything absolutely more complex: the role of Hezbollah, funding from Iran, the issue of refugees in an immense amount who are welcomed in such a weak and so struggling country. Here, perhaps we learn from the French all, those of government and also those of opposition, who have a strong historical and political attention, because I would not like the attention of the other Member States of the Union and of the European institutions to be lost. Let's see what this new government can do.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, thank you for being here, certainly with us, when we talk about these things it would be important if the Commissioner for Competition were also there, because I am absolutely convinced that the aviation crisis is not born with Covid, that it has certainly accentuated it, but it does not even depend on management errors, that certainly there have also been, but it is impossible that too many mistakes have been made and that the business model is not profitable for so many people in such a rich and important continent. So I believe that, in the light of all this, we will also have to consider changing these competition rules, which have created a situation where airlines are too often in the situation to be competitive to restrict workers' rights or passengers' rights, which we cannot accept in either case. There is an example in my country, Air Italy, a company that is in liquidation, a crisis that arises from before Covid and we need, with instruments of social law, to introduce and continue to invest in shock absorbers that serve to ensure that the professionalism, especially of flight personnel, are guaranteed, expertise given by patents, by licenses that must be renewed, because otherwise these subjects will no longer be able to enter the world of work, perhaps even on new subjects that will appear on the market hopefully with medium and long-term prospects. For this reason, however, the European Commission must act without ideological prejudice and without ideological fury, because it is clear that we are facing a social impact, but we must also preserve a heritage of professionalism that workers throughout Europe have acquired in recent years and that must be preserved to make us competitive for the future.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, I am a member of the Delegation for EU-Iran relations and, like many of my colleagues, I am well aware of this case, we have been following it for a long time, but we have difficulty in delivering results. In fact, the issue is that our credibility is also at stake. We certainly need to vote on tough resolutions like the one we are going to vote on today, which I agree with. I share in its essential passage, which is the one in which you ask for a release without any conditions, because the story is absurd. Ahmadreza Djalali does not deserve treatment, no man deserves it, even men who were guilty of nefariousness, and he does not deserve it because he must be a free man, arrested, tortured, sentenced to death for four years continues this drip. In a situation in which, however, I see a hesitation on the part of the European institutions and governments, because there is also their responsibility, in an escalation that sees in my opinion a transition to an even harsher regime, because the new President Raisi has been at the forefront of death sentences for opponents in the so-called death panel in the 1980s. In short, I believe that, for minorities and opponents, the situation will be even more complicated. I ask the European Commission to have a little more contact with the United States on this matter because I believe that it will be with them that we will have to find a solution, starting with that nuclear agreement in which I do not believe and which I believe is difficult to sustain further.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to have Commissioner McGuinness here because, having been a Member of the European Parliament for a long time, I believe that more than other Commissioners, and perhaps even those who mainly follow international trade, have a capacity to listen to requests from Members of the European Parliament. Finally, we are talking about an issue that for some months now has seen our companies and European companies very worried. There is a problem of prices, but above all of finding raw materials. A synthesis must also be made within producer groups that have a problem, a contrast between those who want protection, which I myself and my party have always supported, but we must find a balance between those who want to solve a problem of finding raw materials that risks damaging growth, a growth that is necessary, to do even those things that this Parliament and the European Commission want, let us think only of infrastructure projects that are included in national growth plans. Here we are facing a system shock, which demonstrates the fragility of the global value chain. We are facing a situation in which China and the United States have grown and are growing and there is a theme of consumption growth from which our companies risk being cut off. For this reason, accelerate at this time on tools such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which I myself support in principle, runs the risk of being counterproductive. We are seeing countries – Russia and China – about to tax the export of certain raw materials. Now I'm not saying that we should do it too, but this is a subject. In short, the competitiveness of the entrepreneurial and productive system of a whole continent is at stake and not seizing the recovery now, due to an inability to act with respect to these shocks, I think it would be very serious.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the High Representative, in recent weeks I have signed, I am one of the Members of the European Parliament who signed Mr López Gil's appeal, to which the High Representative responded with an important letter, to which he shows commitment. Obviously it is a commitment that must go forward, it must involve the Member States, it must probably move towards economic sanctions, because the situation, as my colleagues have said, is very serious and has become much worse in recent years. What the Sandinista government is doing in Nicaragua is not acceptable. In addition, there is a level of corruption and money laundering, a continuous violation of human rights that is very serious. I would add an aspect, which as an Italian I can only see proud, in seeing the other political groups have supported the inclusion of a reference that gives the idea of what the Sandinista regime is. Alessio Casimirri is an Italian citizen sentenced to six life sentences, protected by the government of Ortega. He was part of the fire commando that kidnapped and then killed the commando of the Red Brigades that killed Aldo Moro, President of the Italian Council, former President of the European Council. This was perhaps one of the hardest attacks on democracy in my country and as an Italian I want to remind you that we owe an even stronger commitment to the memory of men like Aldo Moro. Obviously, today our struggle must also be for the rights of the opponents of the Nicaraguan regime. In short, we are there, my party is there and if Europe and the European governments want to do something, our support will have it.