Orsini: wages rose more than inflation in the first two quarters

"In the first three months of 2024 wages increased in industry by 3.1 per cent, in the second quarter by 4.1 per cent, we managed to overcome the inflation gap". This was said by Emanuele Orsini, president of Confindustria, interviewed in Bologna on the Farete stage. The problem, however, is productivity: other European countries such as France, Spain and Germany, as well as seeing wages grow, 'produce more than us, on this it is obvious that we will have to reason with the trade unions'. On the reasons why other countries have higher productivity, Orsini does not give an opinion: 'On the number of hours and hours worked, it is obvious that we have to think about it.

"Today we need houses that have a sustainable rent, which cannot exceed 25-30% of the salaries that employees take. I believe today that we cannot wait any longer. We have the willingness to put on the ground recovering, doing urban regeneration, we are talking with Mimit, with the Ministry of Finance, with MIT. We need an overall direction to ground such an important plan, also recovering pieces of the city to regenerate'. Orsini said, "We are doing this with our most important associations, with the world of builders, with banks, with Cdp, obviously with patient funds that may be interested in having the global vision of our country.

'We cannot think that the country's energy is not done with nuclear power'. So said the president of Confindustria. For the leader of Viale dell'Astronomia, in the future, we must focus on fourth-generation nuclear power: 'We must start experimenting in the country, and we can't do it yet, because that will be the way of the future, knowing that that way will be ready not before 12-13 years'.

During the interview, Orsini returned to the subject of energy several times: 'The energy issue is a piece of safeguarding the country. We need to increase the country's energy independence. We have worked well on the energy mix, it is obvious that that energy mix today is based on renewables, and renewables live on sun and wind: we need constant energy. That said, it is a competitiveness issue. On average we pay 30-40% more for energy'. According to Orsini, 'to make Europe grow, we need a single energy price'.

'We need a Europe that is strong politically, that is a real Europe, united,' Orsini said. "It would be short-sighted to think that Italy is doing better than the others, right after Spain, and the other countries are doing worse than us. The real issue is that we need Europe to all go at the same speed,' Orsini added. The number one of Italian industrialists points his finger at the Green Deal: 'I'm not saying that we don't want to be environmentally aware, but the targets we are giving ourselves are very dangerous. We need this anti-industrial fury to be seen in a European industrial policy that takes into account a European safeguard'. In particular, 'we need a single energy, labour policies that also think about welfare'.