Meloni: “With the ETS, Europe isn’t becoming greener; it’s becoming weaker and more dependent”

“With the utility bills decree, we had begun discussions with Brussels to reduce costs for households and businesses. We are working with the Commission to develop a mechanism that will help keep the price of gas used to generate electricity in check.” Giorgia Meloni, speaking at the Assolombarda general meeting, said that the discussions are at an advanced stage and that the government is confident of reaching “a mutually agreed solution shortly”.

The Prime Minister admits that “Italian growth is still too weak”, but highlights the economy’s resilience at a time marked by crisis and instability. She argues that the figures for the first six months of the year indicate growth that could reach 1 per cent by 2026, in line with the major European economies. “It is not a level of growth that satisfies us – nor could it be – but it is a sign that should not be downplayed; rather, it is something on which we can build together.” On the subject of energy costs, Meloni then criticised the ETS, the European system regulating emissions allowances. “It artificially inflates prices, creates imbalances between Member States, and harms our manufacturing businesses – particularly in their ability to compete in a global market where our main competitors are not even remotely subject to the same level of carbon costs and the same constraints.” “This is not the right path to restore Europe’s strategic autonomy, strength and economic clout. With the ETS, Europe does not become greener; it becomes weaker and more dependent.”

In his substantive responses, he refers to nuclear power. “The necessary conditions have been created to embark on a path with an ambitious but necessary goal: to achieve the first production of energy from new nuclear power stations within the next decade, provided, of course, that work on this continues.”

“Europe must recognise that the crisis in Iran, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the instability in the Red Sea are driving up the costs of energy, raw materials and transport and, above all, fuelling inflation that is beyond our control, but which is placing a heavy burden on households, production systems and public finances,” said Meloni, reiterating the Italian government’s proposal for flexibility on the part of Europe to tackle inflation.

“We, too, want new priorities to be funded” as part of the EU’s multiannual budget, including “competitiveness”, but “resources cannot be found by cutting back on cohesion and agricultural policy, which are the preconditions for competitiveness. We cannot build strategic autonomy if we cut back on the only autonomy we have, namely what we eat,” Meloni went on to say when discussing the EU budget. “Europe cannot fail to take this into account: when we approved the national budget plans, we did so on the basis of a projected inflation rate of 1.8 per cent, but today inflation is much higher and in Italy, as in other countries, a significant proportion of expenditure is automatically adjusted for inflation by law.” This “means billions of euros in additional expenditure without the government having taken any new decisions, and for reasons beyond our control: yet that expenditure takes up the headroom allowed by European rules and takes it away from everything else – from businesses, from investment, from growth. Minister Giorgetti discussed this at the Ecofin meeting a few days ago; I will personally raise the issue again at the European Council meeting scheduled for this Thursday and Friday: it is a simple, common-sense proposal, as well as one based on responsibility.”

The Prime Minister also points to Africa as a market where Italy and Europe cannot afford to be late to the party. “It is easy to spot opportunities in the United States or the Gulf, but harder to see them in Africa. Yet we are talking about the youngest continent on the planet and one of the markets set to grow the most in the coming decades. Being there means not leaving an opportunity to others that could, above all, be ours.”

In conclusion, on artificial intelligence: “It has now made a powerful entry into everyday life and is set to revolutionise everything, including, of course, production and industrial processes. This is why governance is urgently needed, but it is clearly an issue that must be addressed at a global level. “The national AI law has made one billion euros in investment available to companies developing artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enabling technologies,” Meloni pointed out. “This is a first sign that Italy is not lagging behind, and we now wish to add another. I believe it makes good sense to find ways to promote investment in software used via cloud contracts as well. I therefore wish to announce that, together with Minister Giorgetti, we are working to introduce a tax measure into the Budget Bill to facilitate investment in this type of asset.”