Brussels, 13/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, speaking in a debate on the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU on Tuesday 13 January, stressed the “historic” nature of the political process which led to the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker at the head of the European Commission.
Renzi said that European leaders had given “political value to the outcome of the European elections”. For the first time in European election history, the main European political parties nominated a head of list who, in the event of victory for that party, would become the president of the European Commission. In May 2014, the Christian Democrat family of the EPP won the highest number of votes. Before being granted the presidency of the Commission, it had to negotiate a reform agenda for the coming five years with the purpose of forming a grand coalition with the Social Democrat and Liberal families. The Italian prime minister said he hoped that this “huge step forward” in the European democratic process would become permanent.
Among the successes of the Italian Presidency's six-month term of office, Renzi highlighted the re-direction of economic policy towards increased support for economic growth, for example, by making use of the flexibility in the stability and growth pact (see other article). On stimulating investment, he said that his country was prepared to be “generous” with regard to the direct contribution to the European fund for strategic investments (EFSI) which will come under the aegis of the EIB and will seek to attract over €300 billion in private investment over three years (see other article). While the economic situation in Italy is far from bright with high unemployment and growth flat-lining, Renzi saw positive signs for the economy in the weakness of the euro and low oil prices.
Among the Italian Presidency's areas for satisfaction, Renzi cited the setting up of the Frontex agency's Triton operation to help Italy manage the EU's external borders and to come to the assistance of migrants' vessels in distress. He also made mention of the beefing up of measures to address fraud and tax evasion, and increased transparency in transatlantic trade talks.
Failure on “made in …” However, the Italian prime minister described the deadlock, despite the involvement of the European Parliament, on the “made in …” issue in talks on the draft regulation on product safety as a “failure”. “The resistance of some countries is incomprehensible”, he regretted.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hailed Italy's contribution on economic and financial issues. “Without the commitment of the Italian Presidency, the European Commission would have found it difficult to make progress” in drafting the investment plan, he stated. He also hailed the finalisation of the legislative process on the resolution chapter of banking union, particularly on the matter of bank contributions to the single bank resolution fund (SRF).
During the debate, Manfred Weber (EPP, Germany) acknowledged that “flexibility” was part of the stability and growth pact, while insisting that the member states did not wish to amend European rules. Gianni Pittella (S&D, Italy) said that Renzi was right to challenge budgetary austerity and to oppose the idea of sanctions on states. “We have a golden rule in the accounting treatment of investments: it seemed to be a pipe dream but now it is a reality”, he was pleased to note. On behalf of the ALDE Group, Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium said the “only disappointment” was that the Council had not been able to reach agreement on the telecommunications package. Curzio Maltese (GUE/NGL, Italy) regretted that not enough had been done to counter mass unemployment. On migration, Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, Germany) said that the “rust buckets” carrying desperate migrants to the EU were symbolic of the failure of the Dublin regulation. Italians Marco Zullo (EFDD) and Matteo Salvini (non-attached) criticised Italy's action in Europe which, they argued, consisted only of failure.
Resignation of Giorgio Napolitano imminent. Now that the Italian Presidency of the Council is over, the president of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, has indicated that he intends to step down. According to Renzi, the president would resign “in the next few hours”. Along with the president of the Parliament, German Martin Schulz, he paid tribute to the efforts of this former GEU/NGL MEP, who chaired the Parliamentary constitutional affairs committee, on behalf of political stability in Italy. (MB)