“Italy has always been a link between northern and southern Europe”. So the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her speech at the ceremony held at the Bocconi University in Milan-“La Bocconi, Italy, Europe. The university greets Mario Monti” – in the presence of the head of state, Sergio Mattarella.
The number one of the Commission addressed Monti calling him “a great Italian, a great economist and a great European”. His speech before the highest offices of the state and the country’s institutions was an opportunity to reiterate the importance of Italy’s role in Europe and vice versa: «Mario (Monti, ed) you were the proponent and architect of reforms here in Italy, to modernize the country and strengthen its role as the second industrial power in Europe. And at the same time, he was a supporter and architect of reforms in Europe as well. Because you have always believed that Europe must change to keep pace with a changing world. Today Italy is more European, and there is more Italy in Europe».
The president also reiterated the importance that Pnrr funds have for our country: «Next Generation EU has promoted some crucial reforms that Italians have been waiting for for years. One of these is public administration reform. And I know that some Bocconi professors were involved in its creation». And you added that «Italy is receiving more than 190 billion euros for investments and reforms. Almost 67 billion euros already delivered: their impact is starting to be visible».
Von der Leyen then reiterated the European commitment on the front of the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, which began after the invasion by the Russian Federation: «Italy is one of the countries most affected by Russian blackmail on gas. Putin cut his exports to Europe by 80% in 8 months. But we managed to compensate and Italy is a perfect example », he specified. “Before it imported 40% of its gas from Russia, and now that share has dropped to about 10%, thanks to a considerable effort to diversify its supply”, he added, also reassuring about Europe’s resilience in terms of energy stocks : «European depots were filled by 96% at the beginning of November: this means that we are safe throughout this winter. In parallel, we have been working on a series of measures to lower prices. We have created a solidarity contribution on the extra profits of energy companies that will generate around 4 billion in revenue in Italy as early as 2023, money to support vulnerable families and businesses”.
Von der Leyen also explained that the EU is “working on the joint purchase of gas, because if we go to the markets together, we can all get better prices. We have proposed a market correction mechanism, the so-called price cap, Italy has asked for it from the outset. It will avoid excessive price increases, cut manipulations and speculation. However, the number one of the Commission reiterated the importance of focusing «on what will come after the winter. There is still a gap to fill. But the reassuring news is that we have the potential: renewable energy” for which “we need complementary EU funding to promote clean technology”. In this sense and with this objective, explained von der Leyen, «RePowerEU comes into play, the plan to overcome our energy dependence on Russia”. RePowerEU would mean «9 billion euros of investments in clean energy for Italy and I proposed to further enhance RePowerEU, to accelerate the clean transition across Europe.”
Lastly, the president reiterated the medium-term need for «a structural solution for our clean technology industry. Our policy objective is for European industry to lead the clean transition. This is why I introduced the idea of establishing a sovereignty fund. The logic behind it is simple: a common European industrial policy requires common European funding », she concluded.
The President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa; Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani; the university minister, Anna Maria Bernini; Life Senator Liliana Segre, Professor Romano Prodi; the president of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana, the deputy mayor of Milan, Anna Scavuzzo; former premier Giuliano Amato; the CEO of Pirelli, Marco Tronchetti Provera, the honorable Pierferdinando Casini and the former Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema.