ROME. The new round of meetings with the social partners is starting at Palazzo Chigi. At the table, chaired by the Prime Minister Mario Draghi, representatives Coldiretti, Confagricoltura, Confartigianato, Cna, Confimi, Casartigiani, Confapi. For the government there are the ministers of Economy, Daniele Franco, of Labor Andrea Orlando, of the Public Administration, Renato Brunetta, sello Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti, of Agricultural Policies, Stefano Patuanelli and the undersecretary to the presidency Roberto Garofoli. The themes will be different.
The prime minister reiterated his desire to involve everyone in this phase of emergency, to face the downturn in the economy and an autumn season that is expected to be very complex. The government’s activities do not stop – it was Draghi’s reasoning -, the executive still has a lot to do within the scope of the functions that are entrusted to it at this stage. The representatives of the categories present expressed appreciation to Draghi for the tireless work and for the prestigious and appropriate international positioning of Italy in this delicate historical moment. And Draghi on his part concluded with the government’s commitment to respond positively to the many points raised by the associations present.
Cia-Agricoltori Italiani is worried because the political stalemate will prevent the request for an extension of the tax credit for the purchase of agricultural diesel, necessary to stem the expensive fuel. This was stated by the Confederation, on the occasion of the meeting at Palazzo Chigi of Prime Minister Mario Draghi with the employers’ organizations. Another request to the government that remains hanging, adds CIA, is the structural sterilization of the system of excise duties on fuels and the definitive elimination of system charges. The delay in approving the flows decree for the recruitment of 130,000 seasonal workers and the drought decree will also weigh on the political agenda, with financial resources necessary to guarantee farmers aid, prevention and compensation measures with respect to the exceptional adversities caused by the water emergency. The EU game remains in the background, where the government crisis will have negative repercussions on the hottest agricultural dossiers: from the decision on the Nutriscore expected in September, to the notifications on agro-energy measures, in particular the modification of the rules on state aid that give the green light to companies that build photovoltaic systems with a power greater than self-consumption. Finally, the imminent deadlines that require the government to send the national strategic plans to the Commission as soon as possible are worrying, so that the implementation of the new CAP can begin – as planned – at the beginning of 2023.
For Coldiretti, the bureaucratic constraints that slow down the hiring of seasonal workers must be overcome as soon as possible to save the crops that survived the drought with the start of the main harvesting campaigns from fruit to vegetables, from olives to harvest. This was asked by the president of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, on the occasion of the meeting in Palazzo Chigi of Prime Minister Mario Draghi with the employers’ organizations. “The risk is to make families pay a further increase in food prices and to generate intolerable food waste at the moment,” he added. To help families, according to Prandini, it is strategic to cut the cost of labor by turning the amount directly into the paycheck to employees who would thus have greater spending capacity. To date in agriculture, according to Coldiretti, just 10 thousand seasonal workers out of the 42 thousand foreseen by the 2021 flow decree have started working in the countryside where agricultural products saved from heat and drought risk remaining in the field due to the lack of workers committed to harvesting them. On the structural level, Prandini also calls for the launch of the great national plan for the construction of reservoirs to accumulate strategic water reserves to be used in times of greatest need.
“The 200 euro bonus is a measure that we consider important also compared to the other measure, the VAT cut on foodstuffs: between the two we prefer the first one because we believe that it is more helpful to people who are in difficulty, perhaps thinking of giving it to people with income up to 25 thousand », said the president of Confartigianato Marco Granelli at the end of the meeting at Palazzo Chigi with the Prime Minister Mario Draghi. «One thing that is putting many artisan businesses in difficulty is the building bonus: here we have a great concern. It is the most dramatically important issue for us today. On this – he added – we have been guaranteed the commitment by the Minister of Economy, Daniele Franco to be able to collaborate to find a solution that would put us in difficulty if it did not exist ».