Rome, 03/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - Italy wants to act as a facilitator in Franco-German relations because the French presidential elections could force a change if the Socialist candidate, François Hollande, wins the elections. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said in a debate on the European growth agenda, organised by the Foundation for Progressive European Studies (FEPS) on 2 May, that the French elections were very important and needed to be taken on board by the new European set-up about to begin. He said that Italy was well-placed to help France and Germany strike a new balance.
Monti pointed out the aims that the Italian technocrat government set itself when it came to power at the end of last year after the Cannes G20 summit, namely preventing Italy from exploding and becoming a new Greece, enabling Italy to become a credible European protagonist by means of a credible approach to cleaning up public finance, encouraging economic growth and able to come up with initiatives for the European response to the sovereign debt crisis. Thanks to the introduction of the necessary reforms (such as changing the labour market and liberalising professions despite huge resistance) Italy can now be more assertive in the debate about a new European set-up, he said. This desire to play a greater role in Europe alongside the Franco-German duo gave rise to a three-way summit (Monti and Merkozy) in Strasbourg in November 2011, but the planned summit in Rome never took place.
Over and above the Franco-German question, Mario Monti called for a re-launch of the European integration process, based on a new compromise between free-trade and neoliberal countries like the United Kingdom and Poland, and big market economies like France and Germany. Here too, he said, Italy can act as a bridge between the two sides. Monti was one of the main instigators of the open letter sent by 12 countries, including the UK, in February, calling for an action plan for Growth in Europe from the EU institutions (see EUROPE 10557) as a way of getting British Prime Minister David Cameron back on the European scene after he vetoed changes to the EU treaty to boost budget discipline in December.
A more flexible Stability and Growth Pact. Monti said that some public investment should be treated differently under EU budget rules, which is an argument long put forward by the European left. The head of the Italianieuropei Foundation, Massimo d'Alema, says this would require a more flexible interpretation of the Stability and Growth Pact as part of a shift in European policies. He said two other aspects needed to change - the EU budget must be used to boost growth by means of introducing a financial transaction tax and introducing project bonds to finance big investment projects; and there mist be more determined EU action to deal with excess debt by pooling a proportion of public debt, which would lower interest rates and free up resources for economic development. (MB/transl.fl)