Tariffs, NRRP, and Competitiveness: Confcooperative in Brussels for new EU legislature

Brussels – The protection of the Italian identity in its different forms: economic, productive, of excellence, but, above all, preparatory work ahead of a new European legislature full of challenges. Confcooperative lands in Brussels to meet with the ‘European Italians’ of the institutions and reason together on the National Recovery Plan  (NRRP), anti-tariff measures, trade, and defense of the ‘Made in.’ “A large construction site that the previous legislature started and on which today is up to the member states, which must implement and present an action plan by the end of the year,” summarizes Maurizio Gardini, president of Confcooperative. “We are a stable part of a discussion table to create this action plan,” he pointed out.

Restoring competitiveness in the European industrial system, intervening in state aid regulations, and considering how and whether to adjust budgetary rules to  “balance innovation with the preservation and safeguarding of what is an indispensable factor for us:” all this was discussed with Italian MEPs from the various groups, as well as Executive Vice President Raffaele Fitto.

In the background, the specter of trade tensions with the United States that US President Donald Trump threatened lingers. “We are concerned about the tariff policy,” Gardini admitted at the end of the institutional mission to Brussels. “Tariff calls tariff, and so you generate a policy that does not allow the movement of goods.” At the same time, however, some types of free trade — along the Mercosur model — are also a source of concern. The president of Confcooperative again criticizes the agreement signed by the European Commission. “They don’t have the same rules to stay on the market,” Gardini fears. “The agricultural tradition in that area comprises chemistry that has disappeared here for decades.” It creates a situation whereby “we stop doing clean agriculture and then import agricultural products that do not have the same quality requirements.” For Confcooperative,  there is a need for “reciprocity”, and the agreement does not guarantee it.