Orsini’s hope and wish: “Competitiveness should be at the heart of the EU budget”

Brussels – Competitiveness must be at the heart of the European Union’s multiannual budget. This call comes from the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, who held a press conference today (15 October) in Brussels, following his meeting with the European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, and the European Commission’s Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto. 

On the European budget, “we need to prioritise competitiveness,” he stated, adding that the aim of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) must be to focus on “saving European industries, because we are in a truly very complicated situation, amid a landscape where the United States and China are playing the game and Europe, unfortunately, is merely acting as the referee.” The hope and expectation of the Confindustria summit is therefore that the Commission and the Council “take very seriously the fact that competitiveness must be at the heart of the matter,” he continued, emphasising that the rise in imports of Chinese products is “leading to the deindustrialisation of Italy and Europe.” In this context, “no country can expect to go it alone.” Meanwhile, “we need Europe to stand united and to focus on the new industries of the future,” Orsini emphasised. 

Competition from China is a major concern for the European industrial sector. “At the moment, we are increasingly concerned about competition from China,” particularly regarding Beijing’s practice of dumping on imports of goods entering Europe. “We know that Europe’s trade deficit in 2025 stood at over 376 billion, of which 46 billion was attributable to Italy. This is therefore a concern that has an impact on the resilience of Italian industries,” Orsini explained. Therefore, “what we are asking for is to maintain those enabling conditions – many of which stem from decisions taken right here in Europe – for doing business in our country.” The issue was discussed in depth during the meeting between the president of Confindustria and the Trade Commissioner: “With Commissioner Šefčovič, we also discussed, of course, how to tackle these issues – that is, how we can protect ourselves, and the question of reciprocity” because “it is obvious that this creates a dependency” and “we are concerned,” he concluded.