Giorgetti: “The Safe is like the PNRR, honourable Members, think carefully about it”

Giorgetti’s view – that of Giorgetti the pragmatist – is simple: “The Safe is like the NRRP; it has serious bureaucratic constraints. Remember, it’s a loan. The decision is a political one – do you want it? Be careful. Do you want it?” Giorgetti issues a warning and leaves the decision in the hands of Parliament. The decision is not his to make. It is the final, most important meeting before the summer recess, and the Minister for the Economy will address Parliament, holding aloft the lantern of truth. His briefing actually concerns the NEC – the safeguard clause on Energy and Defence – and his speech on the budgetary deviation that implementing this measure entails will once again be a plea not to imagine little men made of butter leading Italy to a land of milk and honey. The risk is that the idea of taking on further debt and ruining the accounts will gain traction.

The agenda provides for a debate and a vote on the motions. Although the debate on Safe does not fall within the scope of the NEC (it should be noted that this is a request for a loan from the EU), it is possible that, in any reply, Giorgetti may also be called upon to respond to these additional defence commitments. Giorgetti is expected to follow the line the Minister has already taken with Benedetto Della Vedova during the last Question Time. Giorgetti pointed out at the time that, regarding SAFE, “13 states have signed up to it and there are certainly positive aspects relating to the grace period”. It is not just the interest rate that speaks in favour of this instrument, but the concept itself: joint and coordinated defence projects between countries. However, caution is advised. In his reply to Della Vedova, Giorgetti added: “This does not mean that using SAFE is only beneficial”. What concerns the minister is “the increased bureaucratic burden” and the need to “share strategies” with other European partners. It is the spectre of the PNRR, that complex machine which forced Meloni and Fitto, successfully, to renegotiate in Europe and revise the plan. SAFE does not mean having masters in our own house, but European integration and rules.

Tajani spoke of earmarked funds, got his figures mixed up and announced that we would receive 6, 7 or 8 billion. The letter that Giorgetti sent to the EU – the one made public today – is not the last one. There are others. There has been an exchange in which the Commission explicitly asked Italy: ‘How much funding are you requesting? How much?’ Italy has earmarked 15 billion. But to date, it has not drawn down a single one. What will obviously weigh on the NEC, however, is Italy’s potential exit from the infringement procedure. Withdrawal changes the conditions and the consequences. How much funding is used in 2027 and 2028 will also depend on this factor. Giorgetti believes that Italy has a ‘short memory’, that it is resistant to bureaucracy, and that deviations such as the SAFE are tests of responsibility in Vannaccian times. Dear colleagues, honourable Members, make up your minds.