MILANO – The pandemic has dramatically accentuated inequalities in Italy and Europe. He is convinced of it Mario Draghi who denounced this trend at the Social Summit in Porto: “In the EU – says the Italian premier – one in seven young people is not employed, nor does he attend an education or training course. In Italy we are close to one in four”.
“The gap in the employment rate between men and women in the EU stands at 11.3 percentage points. In Italy it is almost double. One third of the Italian population lives in the southern regions, but its share of total employment is only by a quarter “.
Draghi again: “As well as during the Great Recession and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, it is our young people and our women who pay the price for this tragedy. “These are” fractures “that have” deep historical and cultural roots, but also reveal evident institutional and legal shortcomings ” .
“Too many EU countries have a two-track labor market, which benefits the secured – generally older and male workers – at the expense of the unsecured, like women and young people. While the so-called secured are better paid and enjoy greater job security, the unsecured suffer from a precarious working life. This system is profoundly unfair and constitutes an obstacle to our ability to grow and innovate “.
“This is not Italy as it should be, nor Europe as it should be”, adds the premier. That stresses: “The shock caused by the Covid-19 has made these gaps even deeper. “
“The EU has long made its social model a point of pride. The European dream is to ensure that no one is left behind. But even before the pandemic, our societies and labor markets were fragmented. Generational inequalities, gender inequalities and regional inequalities “.
Draghi hopes that “the programma Sure to support employment remains in place “, becoming structural; and that Community policies to aid growth and innovation remain in place for a long time.
Meanwhile, Italy will try to do its part: “Thanks to the Recovery Plan, we are trying to remedy this sad situation. 6 billion euros to reform active labor market policies “. We need” training and retraining of those who have to change jobs or are looking for a first job, following the example of the European Youth Guarantee Program “
Europe wants to remedy all this. Recovery “is the opportunity of the century. I urge countries that have not done so to ratify own resources because it is the precondition to go to the markets and start the economic revival “. Thus the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, in his introduction to the Social Summit in Porto.
“I am very happy to be here in Porto for this important Social Summit which comes at the right time – he added to the president – Now the time has come for the recovery for which the EU will make available the 750 billion euros of the Next Generation Eu. social aspects are absolutely priority “, it is necessary to put in place” quality jobs “, added the president.
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Von der Leyen quoted Italian literature in a positive key: “The world is changing and we too must change. As the famous Tomasi di Lampedusa said in The Leopard: everything must change so that everything remains as it was before”, he said in his introduction to the works.
“We need to act on climate change and want Europe to be at the forefront of the digital transition, but also to give life to Europe’s social promise and this has brought us to Porto today,” added the president.
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