Orsini: renewables, regions unblock blocked projects

A double front, towards the European Union, but also within our borders. These are the directions in which we must act to deal with the emergency of the energy shock. First of all, the figures: if the conflict in the Middle East lasts until the end of the year, with oil averaging $140, there would be a cost increase of 21 billion for companies. "I don't think we have the capacity to bear that. And so we have to do everything we can," said the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, speaking on Sky Tg24 Live In, in a face-to-face with the Minister of Industry and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso.

For Orsini, 'Europe must move, we need to make European public debt and act on the Ets. But we also need to act at home, accelerating on renewables. "There are 4,000 concessions at a standstill, we need to understand why they are blocked. It is not a government problem, it is a problem that impacts the Regions, we have set ourselves the goal of going Region by Region to understand why,' continued the president of Confindustria, adding: 'the first Region that is not doing its homework is Sardinia, the second is Calabria'.

A challenge on which Orsini was joined by Minister Urso: 'we need a shock of authorisations, everything and immediately in three months. Thanks to government action, the production of renewable energy has in any case increased by 25 per cent in the past year," said Urso, recalling that in the last council of ministers on the subject, it emerged that one region had said no to 30 renewable energy projects.

We need the responsibility of all parties. Orsini insisted on this, as did Urso. 'Energy is a matter of national safeguard, otherwise the country's social welfare is lacking,' the Confindustria president insisted, 'as well as being a matter of competitiveness for companies. It is the first cost item for companies, as for example in the automotive sector: 'when Stellantis says "I'm going to Spain because the first cost item is energy", it is obvious that we must generate the conditions so that it costs less here,' Orsini said, pointing out that in Spain energy costs 40 euros per mwh and here it has reached peaks of 160 euros. There is nuclear power for Orsini to move forward, but given the timeframe, renewables must be grounded immediately.

Europe must step in and play its part: 'we need a single energy market, we cannot buy energy from Spain because the Pyrenees are in the way and the French sell us energy at a higher price. Just as we need a single capital market and a common defence,' continued the president of Confindustria. We need a European debt and not to go down the road of state aid: 'Europe either does Europe or it is a problem, no one can be left behind, Italia is the second EU manufacturing. Our budget does not allow us to do so, we will be penalised,' recalling the 26 billion a year allocated by Germany to help companies.