Orsini: 'We need a breakthrough on the common debt, suspend the ETS'. Meloni: "Bureaucratic giant EU, do less and better"

'We intend to strengthen the mechanisms already introduced in the last budget law to increase the investment of pension funds for the real economy'. Premier Giorgia Meloni said this at the Confindustria assembly.

'OK to the reorganisation of incentives and tax expenditures. We are willing to open a dialogue' on this. "Ok to reforming the corporate responsibility system, which cannot turn into criminalisation of companies. The Euro-European framework constrains us but there are margins to lighten it up'. This was said by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the Confindustria assembly, also talking about the 'relaunch of the Pir, the individual savings plans'.

A 'balance' is needed between defence spending and spending to mitigate the impact of the energy crisis on households and businesses. Premier Giorgia Meloni said this at the Confindustria assembly.

'Italia,' he recalled, 'has written to the European Commission to request the extension of the scope of the national escape clause for the necessary interventions for families and businesses: it is not a question of being authorised to new debt at national level, but of allocating what is already provided for in the best possible way. Pure and simple common sense. It does not mean that I have changed my mind on the issue of defence spending although I know that the issue in Italia is an unpopular one. A serious leader must tell the truth: if you do not know how to defend yourself, you will pay for it in terms of autonomy and sovereignty'. "Defence spending," he noted, "is the price of freedom and I want Italia to be a free nation but on the other hand I also know that if we do not help families and businesses to overcome the impact of a crisis that is significant we risk that there is nothing left to defend in this nation so we need to create a balance between two needs.

The effects of the crisis in Iran "are circumstances beyond the control of the EU member states and amply justify extending the flexibility already granted for security and defence spending to the investments needed to tackle the energy crisis". This was said by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at the Confindustria assembly, stressing "the impact that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is having on our families and businesses". "It is not a question of being authorised to make new debt at national level but to allocate what is there in the best possible way," Meloni reiterated.

Speaking of the 'Ets' system, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke - during the Confindustria assembly - of a 'paradoxical tax' that ends up 'creating further inequalities'. But instead of 'suspending it' as should be done in the EU, 'they continue to defend ideological totems'. "This is not the right path, it is the right path if we want to consign ourselves to decline. The government intends to continue the battle on this front'.

'We want to proceed swiftly on the road back to nuclear power in Italia, in the meantime on the most innovative technologies with modular reactors'. This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at the Confindustria assembly. 'By the summer,' she reiterated, 'the delegated law will be approved and then the implementing decrees will be approved for the necessary political framework. I have no doubt that the resumption of nuclear production is a goal within our reach, and important for our competitiveness. I am very determined about this'.

"I want to tell President Orsini that I consider it correct and intelligent to think about including investments in software and cloud in the incentives, I believe we have to reckon with the world we are going towards". Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this in her speech at the Confindustria assembly.

"When the state creates favourable conditions, the South can respond with energy and can become a driving force" for the country. "It is not a southern issue, it has always been a national issue and it concerns us all". Premier Giorgia Meloni said this at the Confindustria assembly. Speaking of the Zes Meloni explained that they are 'studying technical mechanisms to apply to the entire national territory and place this measure alongside another in terms of investment, the mechanism of hyper-amortisation'.

"I agree that the Omnibus packages currently under discussion are not enough, much more needs to be done to clear the regulatory jungle that has stratified" in Europe. This was said by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at the annual assembly of Confindustria. 'We are working with Merz, with joint initiatives on which we are involving other European leaders. With equal clarity, however, I want to say that we must put politics back at the centre of the European institutions. The task of the bureaucracy is to accompany the directions of politics, not to replace politics. This is also where Europe's change of pace will be tested,' he added.

"If the rule is freedom, everything that is not expressly forbidden for a superior interest that is already protected, must be allowed without strings and cages that have the sole consequence of stifling economic initiative". This was said by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at the assembly of Confindustria, referring to the European Union.

'In order to try to be concrete, I propose that we immediately start a common yard to arrive at a common reform of bureaucracy in Italia'. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this at the Confindustria assembly.

"The main enormous fragility that concerns us closely is the current configuration of the European Union, a bureaucratic giant that has too often sacrificed competitiveness and strategic growth on the altar of ideological and technocratic approaches. Europe has been unstoppable in its ability to multiply rules on every aspect of common life but short-sighted when it comes to making its voice heard in global life'. So said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at the Confindustria assembly.

"We have shown that even when one starts from different positions, one can at some point discover oneself to be a team if the objective one pursues is the same, that is, to put the nation in the best condition to face the difficult challenges of this time head on". So said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, speaking at the Confindustria assembly.

Italia needs 'a great act of responsibility' to 'return to a 2% growth, growth that we consider not only necessary but possible'. This was said by the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, in his speech during the annual assembly underway in Rome. "Over the last 25 years we have grown, on average, by 0.4% per year, compared to 1.4% in the European Union, 2.1% in the United States and 8% in China. Overall, Italy's GDP in 2025 is only 10% higher than in 2000. In the same period, the European GDP increased by 40%, that of the United States by almost 70%, and that of China by 586%,' said the number one industrialist, emphasising that 'the Italian economy suffers more than others from global recessions and struggles more than others to recover ground: it took 16 years to return to the levels before the financial crisis of 2007, we have only managed to do so in 2023'. According to Orsini, therefore, regardless of the political colour of the governments of recent decades, 'the truth is that, collectively, we have not done enough'.

Faced with 'public finance' with 'very narrow margins', taxation can be a 'lever of competitiveness' and, with this in mind, Confindustria launches the proposal to remodel 20 billion without impacting on debt. This was said by the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, during the annual assembly. "Italia is fourth in terms of tax burden among advanced countries, but there are 575 tax measures that erode about 120 billion of the tax base. We launch a proposal to the government and social partners. Let us work together on these measures, some of which have lost their raison d'être or overlap with each other. Let us analyse them together. And let us identify the 20 billion to be reallocated, without increasing the debt: one third to growth, one third to health, one third to schools,' Orsini stressed. 'This is a concrete act of responsibility to be carried out with decisions shared by majority and opposition. It also means reopening the chapter of a serious review of public spending, to affect privileges and consolidated balances. Changing this state of affairs requires trust and political courage,' Orsini continued.

"In Italia the wage issue remains open. I say it clearly: we alone, with our best contracts, cannot solve it'. This was stated by the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, speaking at the annual assembly. 'Low wages drive young people away from Italia. Too many sectors only offer time contracts and insufficient wages,' added Orsini, stressing that 'if we want to seriously address the problem, we must all share the principle that wages are a matter of attractiveness for Italia and its companies. Low wages have a negative impact on people's quality of life, on the birth rate, and they hold back domestic demand, which remains the main market for most companies, and the only one for many small businesses'.

In order to meet the challenge of artificial intelligence, "a major training plan is needed for all workers. And we need a training project to start in the secondary school cycle, for all young people. As an industrial system we stand alongside the public school, as we have already done with the Its Academy, which has grown from 11 thousand to 41 thousand enrolled by 2021'. So says the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, in his report to the annual assembly. Among the points, Orsini supports the proposal to 'include in the incentives also the investments of companies in software and cloud, which are now essential tools to accelerate digitalisation and the adoption of artificial intelligence'.

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"The Mezzogiorno is a potential growth basin for Italia, for which it is necessary to work on a strategy dedicated to attracting investments". This was stated by the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, in his report to the annual assembly, relaunching the model of the Single Economic Zone (Zona economica speciale). A model that, he emphasised, 'has shown how simplification and administrative speed are decisive in boosting investment. Almost 1,300 single authorisations in just over two years have produced over 55 billion in overall economic impact and over 60,000 direct and indirect jobs. With a public expenditure of just over 5 billion. That model works and should be replicated. We are pleased,' Orsini continued, 'that the Prime Minister has confirmed the extension of the simplifications of the ZES as one of his priority objectives. This will have to take place under advantageous conditions for the south of Italy'.

"We are satisfied that the implementing regulations for the hyper-amortisation have been issued, an industrial policy measure with a multi-year vision for the country's growth, thanks to which a cycle of industrial investments extended until 2028 will be restarted," said Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini at the industrialists' assembly. He added: 'But we need to go one step further: we are also including in the incentives business investment in software and the cloud, which are now essential tools for accelerating digitalisation and the adoption of artificial intelligence'.

"China is colonising our markets, if the European Union does not immediately support our production, we will be forced into an industrial desert". This was stated by the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, in his report to the annual assembly, pointing the finger at "falsified rules" and relaunching the theme of common debt. "China is today the only true industrial superpower. Alone,' Orsini stressed, 'it generates 35% of the world's manufacturing output, more than the other eight leading industrialised countries produce together. But China plays by false rules and exports its own imbalances, i.e. deflation and lack of domestic demand, to the rest of the world. It shifts a gigantic load of goods to European markets. Not only low-cost products, but also advanced technologies: sectors in which China has overcapacity while Europe struggles and lags behind'.

A single energy market with the suspension of the ETS and also the priority of completing the savings and investment union. "But energy and capital are not enough, we need the turnaround of common debt to support European industry" without, however, "new European debt issues to finance the current expenditure of states". The chapter dedicated to Europe by Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini at the 2026 assembly is rich. 'Europe,' he says, 'must change course and must change pace,' he says. 'We are very concerned about Europe's choices in recent years. One point above all,' he emphasises, 'Brussels is not clear what competitiveness means. 'We believe in Europe,' he reiterates. This is why the leader of the industrialists makes a call for competitiveness and the need for there to be a focus on European basic industry. 'It is clear,' he says among other things, 'that many states still believe they can do it alone. But that is an illusion'. On the things to be done, Orsini points to three priority levers: 'a true single market for energy. a single capital market for savings, a common debt to finance a true European industrial policy'. On the Ets, 'suspension is requested because we know that the European timeframe for an effective revision is too long. Suspending it means allowing a better revision, but also avoiding that in the meantime other factories are forced to close or relocate'.

"War is a defeat for humanity", "it is a failure, always and everywhere. With the same force we reject the doctrines that intend to assert the law of the strongest at the expense of diplomacy and dialogue'. Thus the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, in his report to the annual assembly. 'In addition to the horrors that are there for all to see', he says, war 'is the cause of deep economic crises that generate new poverty, erode established alliances, and turn energy and raw materials into instruments of blackmail'.

For 'robust growth', we must 'react united and put entrepreneurs in a position to do their job', putting them 'in a position to grow means strengthening the country'. Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini, calling for 'national responsibility', declines the industrialists' proposal by asking to 'move five levers to put enterprise back at the centre'. He listed them from the stage of the industrialists' annual assembly: 'energy; growth in the size of SMEs; development and innovation contracts; simplification and reform of law 231 on administrative responsibility; resources adequate to the objectives'. And he reiterates the emergency: 'The first lever is energy', for companies 'the price of energy is now a real existential threat'.

"We entrepreneurs are asking the whole of politics for a great act of responsibility made up of choices inspired by trust and courage", "political courage", says president Emanuele Orsini from the Confindustria assembly. "These choices," he says, "are the foundations to return to a growth of 2% per year", which is "not only necessary but possible". They are 'challenges' that 'require from all of us a strong and shared sense of responsibility', a responsibility 'that concerns institutions and political forces, business associations and trade unions: the whole of society'. President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were in the audience. Orsini warns: 'If in Italia and Europe we are not capable of a common effort we will lose our industry, that is 15% of GDP and millions of jobs'.

"As Anci we are discussing precisely the corrections to be made to the Piano Casa because it is fundamental that in the urban planning choices that are made there is an important role for mayors. This is a theme that we have also emphasised to the government, on which there is a convergence, so we will work together to improve the measure,". So says the mayor of Naples and president of Anci Gaetano Manfredi, on the sidelines of the Confindustria assembly.

"If you look at the data, in this legislature we have significantly reduced the crisis tables and also the workers involved. In 2022 there were over 50 crisis tables with 80,000 workers involved, today we are at 40 crisis tables with around 30,000 workers involved. In the meantime, in these three years we have found structural solutions at 41 crisis tables, always safeguarding the plants and all the workers'. This was stated by the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, on the sidelines of the Confindustria assembly.

"We will proceed in this direction. If you look at the figures 'of previous governments you will realise the great work done. With Minister Carlo Calenda, I think there were 170 crisis tables, with more than 100,000 workers involved: you understand the difference,' Urso concluded.

"It's not like we only won in Venice. We won in several places. Even in Reggio Calabria, which was the fiefdom of the left'. 'Voters think differently from what some people write and from what the propaganda of the left says. What counts is the will of the people, who I believe have said that the centrodesrta enjoys good health'. Vice-Premier Antonio Tajani said this on the sidelines of the Confindustria assembly. 'The referendum vote had nothing to do with the political vote,' he added.

On Natuzzi 'we have the table soon. If you look at the data in this legislature we have significantly reduced the crisis tables and also the workers involved: in 2022 there were over 50 crisis tables with over 80,000 workers involved. Today we are at 40 crisis tables with about 30,000 workers involved. In the meantime, in these three years we have found structural solutions in 41 crisis tables, always safeguarding the plants and all the workers: we will proceed in this direction. If you compare these figures to those of previous governments you will realise the great work done because during the governments - for example of Renzi with Minister Calenda - the tables I think were around 170 with over 100,000 workers involved. You well understand the difference'. So said Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, on the sidelines of the Assembly of Confindustria 2026 in Rome.

Tutto pronto per l’Assemblea generale di Confindustria presso il Centro Congressi La Nuvola di Roma, alla presenza del presidente della Repubblica Sergio Mattarella e la premier Giorgia Meloni. L’appuntamento è per le ore 10.30, un’occasione di poco preceduta dalle parole di chiusura del leader degli industriali, domenica, al Festival di Trento. «In un momento come questo serve unirsi. Io credo che l’Europa oggi debba fare un esercizio più importante: quello di unirsi per poter fare delle politiche economiche vere a sostegno delle industrie e delle imprese». Il presidente di Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, ha rilanciato l’allarme degli industriali: «Non vogliamo delocalizzare le nostre industrie e deindustrializzare il nostro continente». E l’attenzione è stata negli ultimi giorni ancora sull’evoluzione del conflitto in Medio Oriente: «Leggiamo dichiarazioni: apriamo, chiudiamo, chiudiamo, apriamo... speriamo che si riesca a trovare una soluzione per lo Stretto di Hormuz, perchè il capitolo dei costi dell’energia è una priorità», oggi per le imprese è «un problema».