Italia-France, stronger business alliance against the crisis

When the report was produced, the attack by USA and Israel against Iran had not begun. But already at the forefront of Italian and French companies' concerns was the cost of energy. Together with the feared loss of competitiveness of the European system. For all these reasons, too, collaboration is clamoured for: in times of great uncertainty, even more so, union is strength.

It is an invitation to build new bridges in the latest report of the Italy France Observatory on the value of relations between companies, produced by Ipsos for the French Chamber of Commerce in Italia. On Friday 17 April, the presentation was held in Assolombarda. "The bond has gone beyond the dimension of commercial interchange, to evolve into a true strategic industrial alliance," summarisesVeronica Squinzi, vice-president of Lombard entrepreneurs with responsibility for internationalisation.

Born in the wake of the Quirinal Treaty - the commitment to strengthen cooperation in every sphere, signed in 2021 by the then Prime Minister Mario Draghi and President Emmanuel Macron - the observatory has seen an increase in the desire of businesses to enhance what unites them. Until this fourth edition, in which greater collaboration is strongly desired by 87% of the sample. "No longer just to do business, but to face uncertainties together," analyses Nicola Neri, ceo of Ipsos.

Two hundred companies were consulted, present in both countries (representing the main macro-sectors and with at least 50 employees), part of the trade interchange that will reach 112 billion in 2025. If French companies see the greatest benefits of cooperation first and foremost in tourism (34%), Italian companies point to energy (32%).

A prospect to be read alongside concerns about the impact of high costs (for 20% of Italians and 31% of French). A synergy that represents 'an opportunity to build a more solid European platform,' according to Squinzi, and also respond in this way 'to the growing concerns, transforming the challenge of energy transition into a field of priority collaboration to cut costs and guarantee security of supply. The high cost of energy is also confirmed as a source of uncertainty for the French, but 'in this framework nuclear power represents an element of stability', reflects Edouard Neyrand, president of the Chambre, who recalls how 'France is an important supplier of electricity to Italia'.