EU, Orsini: it’s acting as referee between the US and China, but we want to play the match
This was stated by the president of Confindustria at a press conference following meetings with Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, and Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the EU for Cohesion and Reforms
“Today, the competition is between the United States and China, and we (Europe, ed.) are acting as the referee with the whistle, drawing up and enforcing the rules. But we want to be the ones playing the game. And to play the game, we need the right conditions.” So said Confindustria President Emanuele Orsini at a press conference in Brussels following meetings with Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, and Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the EU for Cohesion and Reforms.
Orsini went on to say that discussions had taken place with the two European Commissioners on how to “protect ourselves” from the dumping of Chinese products. “We discussed medical devices,” continued the business leader, “and the concern within Italian industry stems from the fact that Chinese products are now part of the value chain we operate within. It is obvious that this creates a dependency, and we are therefore concerned.”
Other issues discussed concerned the automotive and white goods sectors. “We need a European industrial policy with a long-term vision that achieves two things: keeping production in Italia and across Europe, and securing European resources to support it. We also need to bolster the spending power – let’s say – of European citizens, so they can afford to buy these products. Furthermore, we can no longer make exceptions regarding the sovereignty of certain products. I am thinking of the active ingredients in medicines. We need to reflect on this and adopt a long-term vision.”
Suspension of the ETS system puts 50,000 jobs at risk in Italia
The ETS is “one of the key issues”, according to the head of the industrialists’ association. Without a temporary suspension of the European ETS system, the risk for Italia is that “50,000 people will be out of work. We will then have to explain why they lost their jobs because of a European regulation”.
“Let’s review the ETS benchmarks,” he added, “let’s talk about the cost of trading CO₂. Today, for our country, it has become completely out of proportion. We cannot imagine that there are countries that think they can manage this on their own.”
