An invitation to European countries to overcome their differences, supported by the German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and an invitation also on the domestic front to mitigate the effects of high bills on households and businesses. Sergio Mattarella arrives in Valletta to participate in the summit of the Arraiolos Group focused on the Ukrainian crisis, its consequences and the need for European solidarity and before sitting at the round table with twelve heads of state of the continent he meets his German colleague. In recent days, Germany is being criticized, on the one hand, for the 200 billion domestic aid program for families and businesses, and courted, on the other hand, to recreate a leading group of EU countries.
During the bilateral meeting, Mattarella and Steinmeier showed an optimism that smacks of exhortation and said they were convinced that the next EU council will be able to overcome the differences on energy. A spur expressed by the president, albeit non-executive, of Germany opens some glimmers on the eve of an EU council that promises to be complicated. On the double track between Brussels and Rome, Mattarella then launched another exhortation: “We must mitigate the consequences of the increases in the cost of energy on the life of families and businesses”. An objective that everyone considers shared but the frictions between countries and political lines on the instruments to be put in place risk nullifying the immediate effectiveness of the declarations of intent.