SENT TO CERNOBBIO (CO). Out of program for the Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility Enrico Giovannini, expected at Villa d’Este to participate in the Ambrosetti Forum. His first stop on Lake Como, in fact, is the Other Cernobbio, the counter-festival organized by Sbilanciamoci, a campaign to which 49 acronyms adhere including Arci, Cgil, Radio Popolare and Ecoinformazioni. The initiative, whose last precedent dates back to eight years ago, aims to discuss sustainable development, ecological transition, fight against inequalities and rights. “Here there is a very important piece of civil society and the great challenges always require the contribution of civil society – says the minister, clarifying the reason for his presence-. And then there are smart and very lively people here ”.
The appointment is in the cinema theater of the parish hall of Cernobbio, full of rainbow flags and young people wearing the “Tax the rich” t-shirt. Between the stage and the stalls are the founder of Lunaria and former deputy of Sel Giulio Marcon, Vittorio Agnoletto and the coordinator of international relations of the ARCI Raffaella Bollini. Other guests present or connected include Rosy Bindi, Giorgio Airaudo, Giuseppe Onufriondi of Greenpeace and the Comboni missionary Alex Zanotelli. The minister immediately took the floor that the general secretary of Fiom Michele De Palma, video linked from Trieste, pulled by the jacket just “the government of the best” of which Giovannini is a part. “The executive must immediately face the crisis in the steel industry. Either there is a confrontation or we will not be the notaries of the dismantling of this country’s industry. I tell Draghi today and tomorrow to whoever will take his place. If the discussion does not open, there is a clash. We are ready to engage in democratic conflict ”. Giovannini closes the elections and post-25 September chapter with a joke – “I dream one day of leading the Ministry of the Future” -, then affirms that one of the worst consequences of the government crisis for the issues he dealt with personally it was the blocking of the urban regeneration law. “In the programs of the parties, everyone repeats that they want to continue what we have done on many issues. On urban mobility, however, some say they want to return to the centrality of the car. In short, just bikes and scooters. Fortunately, at the government level, most of the investments have already been planned and the battle will therefore be at the regional and municipal level. I say this because it is important to know who the right interlocutors are ”. The last reflection is on Europe: “If there were no EU, it would have to be invented, even if today it is subjected to exceptional stress – says the minister -. Yet the only way to react to the extraordinary crises we face is to do it together ”. Marcon greets him inviting him to say “to the other Cernobbio, that we are here too. With our ideas and our proposals “.
Villa d’Este is less than two kilometers away but before arriving there Giovannini has time for another unscheduled one. He sees the general manager of the WTO Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala walk past, pulls the car over and greets her directly in the middle of a roundabout.