European elections, Confindustria to candidates: Let’s talk. And launches its proposals with “Factory Europe”

Rome – Confindustria calls for a confrontation with candidates ahead of the European elections in June. The moment is delicate, warns Carlo Bonomi, who asks the media, “Let us not allow this important democratic passage, which is delicate, to become a great weapon of mass distraction of politics.” The demand is to keep up the debate on European issues and to “explain the contents of what we are called to do in this democratic passage; the feeling is that European issues are little known,” he notes. The European Parliament, Bonomi recalls, “is about to make vital decisions for the Union.” It is important, therefore, that it “regains its political role, which at times has been taken away by the interference of the commission,” warns the leader of Italian industrialists.

There is “an urgent need for industrial policy, but it seems that the political class is not clear about it,” Bonomi punctuates, recalling that “the challenge of competitiveness launched by China and the U.S. dictates that we must not waste time.”

The association of Italian industrialists draws up a document and launches its proposals for the Continent’s future, discussing the need for an “Industrial Renaissance”. The example is the Fit for 55: “If we look at the decarbonization goals we have set ourselves, Confindustria has estimated that Italy alone needs 1,120 billion in investments. The only extraordinary public finance tool we have is the NRRP, which, depending on how you want to classify these issues, puts 65-70 billion. It means that households and businesses will have to invest over 1 trillion, which is clearly impossible,” Bonomi says.

Over the past few months, the entire System has been consulted at both territorial and sectoral levels to help define an organic framework of proposals to make Europe more competitive. The document is called Factory Europe, resulting from this widespread consultation. A set of recommendations to put the industry back at the centre of the European agenda, building a stronger industrial policy, based on the three piññars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic) and supported by an “adequate level of investment.”

“It would be a huge mistake to make the green and digital transition without industry because it is industry that creates growth,” echoes him Carlo Corazza, Director of the European Parliament’s Italian office, as he introduced the initiative in Rome’s Temple of Hadrian. Before the European elections, the Confindustria system will organize a series of meetings in all European constituencies for direct discussion with candidates on the contents of the document. It is necessary for industrialists, first of all, to work on the competitiveness front, strengthening and expanding the network of free trade agreements (FTAS), bringing forward negotiations and opening new ones to intensify bilateral relations with Asia (especially ASEAN countries), Africa, and Latin America. Next, common European defence should be strengthened by improving coordination between the EU and NATO.

On the environment, the recommendation is to complement the Green Deal with a European industrial policy to stay ahead in the global race for future technologies. “It is important to adopt a technology-neutral approach and to establish European funds that support and complement investments in various technologies and energy sources,” it reads. As for energy policies, it calls for completing the integration of electricity markets, creating a single gas market, and developing a European strategy for nuclear energy.

Reforming the ETS (Emission Trading Scheme) rules and strengthening the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) are other focuses, along with the recommendation to promote circular economy and industrial symbiosis in business models. “A clear and comprehensive regulatory framework that can stimulate innovations for the efficient use of productive resources should be defined and harmonized.” Fundamental is also regulating artificial intelligence to make the EU the ideal Continent where to invest in this technology: “The implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Act and future legislation in this area will have to find an effective synthesis between the interests of different economic sectors to make Europe a major player in the development of technology and AI-related applications.”

Attention will also have to be paid to budgetary balance, for which industrialists call for the relaunch of the Capital Markets Union to give a new impetus to the development and integration of financial markets and attract capital; a new safe asset of common European debt on the model of Next-Generation Eu; regulation of the banking system by implementing Basel III. Existing state aid instruments should be redefined, is the suggestion, with facilitative measures for midcaps and small midcaps, adjusting the criteria for defining SMEs based on inflation, and eliminating excessive constraints; it is also important to provide common resources for all member states to facilitate large productive projects, to reduce the risks of fragmentation and inequality.

On research and innovation, finally, it is “vital to preserve the centrality of the patent system and the attractiveness for investment with more coherence and better synergies between EU Programs and national initiatives, more support for business competitiveness, and more control of competitiveness.”