Zuppi in Trento: negotiating peace in Ukraine. Urso urges European tariffs against China

The war in Ukraine, the Russian assets affair, and tariffs on China. The third day of the Festival of Economics in Trento was full of topical issues and insights. Prominent guests included Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, who had his say on how to deal with the Ukrainian crisis: "Right now there is beginning to be greater awareness that in order to end the war we need to negotiate, but not with weapons. The international community cannot stand by and watch because it is clear that it has a responsibility. The role of supranational structures is crucial in order to guarantee the two sides that peace is not surrender. Peace must be just and secure'.

And the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni, who was also a guest on the third day of the Trento Festival, spoke again about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. "I come from the G7 in Stresa,' he informs, 'I would say well on the subject of Russian assets, because the concept is that we must support Ukraine because the only way to reach a negotiation and peace is for Putin to be convinced that he cannot win the war. So support, first and foremost economic support, is crucial. Giving a signal of continued support was very important. Now we are working to develop something that the EU has already done and decided: we have decided to use the extra profits generated by these frozen Russian sovereign assets, which are not owned by Russia. Most of these assets are in the EU'. Speaking on the panel 'Next Generation Eu: what prospects after 2026', Gentiloni assured: 'I think that for the G7 in mid-June this hypothesis will be much more defined and a more accomplished announcement can be made'.

Geopolitics and industrial policy took centre stage at the panel attended by Enterprise Minister Adolfo Urso. Should Europe follow the United States down the road of tariffs on imports from China? 'Yes. It is inevitable,' replied Urso, 'and it will have to do it quickly too. Otherwise it will be swept away'. The next European Commission will need - he says - an 'assertive industrial policy, based on common resources, that protects European companies'. Moving 'along the path that the United States is already following against the titanic Chinese challenge'. If not, as a consequence of US tariffs, China will 'invade the European market, wiping out all competition'. We need a 'sound and meaningful common industrial policy in Europe, which finances companies through common European resources, to avoid widening the gaps'. A strategy that also concerns the defence sector, such as the steel industry, he adds. We need 'common tools, common resources, to finance Europe's strategic industrial autonomy'.

As for Zuppi, president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, speaking at the panel 'A world in pieces, will it be able to find its compass again?', he also spoke of the reforms that are currently engaging Parliament: 'On the reform of differentiated autonomy we must be careful. There is a great deal of attention from the bishops of the South who are concerned that we cannot grow together, that gaps may be created. But we have been saying this for months,' he said.

'We need immigrants, it is the companies that are asking for them. The confirmation comes to us from the data on the flows decree: this year there have been three times as many clicks, requests, compared to the places offered by the flows decree. If we don't do something, the risk is that immigrants will arrive anyway and then be forced to choose undeclared work and illegality. Another problem is the timing: permits often arrive much later than required, and this also fuels the black market in labour,' Zuppi said on the multifaceted problem of immigrants.