Meloni writes to von der Leyen and asks to extend the derogation of the Stability Pact to energy

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has written a letter to the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which she asks to extend the derogation from the Stability Pact also to the energy sector. We read in the letter: “Dear Ursula, Italy will continue to do its part to strengthen European security and defense. It is a responsibility that we feel deeply, especially in the international context we are experiencing. We will continue to support the need for the European Union to invest more in its strategic security and defense capacity. But today, in the eyes of European citizens, there is another equally concrete and immediate emergency: the energy emergency”.

We need political coherence from Europe

“The crisis in the Middle East and the tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, which add to the effects of Russian aggression in Ukraine, are already producing very heavy and often asymmetric effects on energy prices, on costs for families and businesses, on the competitiveness of our production system and on the purchasing power of citizens. In Italy and in many European nations there is growing concern about having to face a new economic and social shock after the enormous sacrifices made in recent years. For this reason I believe that Europe must give a signal of coherence, of common sense and closeness to citizens. If we rightly consider defense a strategic priority that justifies the activation of the National Escape Clause, then we must have the political courage to recognize that today energy security is also a European strategic priority. And, in particular, that the extraordinary increase in energy costs we are experiencing represents an exceptional circumstance beyond the control of the Member States with serious repercussions on public finances that the EU allows financial flexibility for security and defense strictly understood and not to defend families, workers and businesses from a new one. energy emergency which risks hitting the real economy hard”.

The Italian proposal on the National Escape Clause

“Europe’s security is not measured only in its military capacity. It is also measured in the possibility for businesses to continue producing, for families to bear energy costs, for states to guarantee economic and social stability. It is clear to no one that an adequate production capacity in the defense sector is necessarily based on a solid and healthy economy. Supporting businesses and families to face the high cost of energy would make our economies stronger and therefore also better able to strengthen their defensive capacity. For this reason, Italy believes It is necessary to temporarily extend the scope of application of the National Escape Clause already foreseen for defense expenditure also to the investments and extraordinary measures necessary to deal with the ongoing energy crisis, without modifying the maximum deviation limits already envisaged. In the absence of this necessary political coherence, it would be very difficult for the Italian Government to explain to public opinion a possible recourse to the SAFE program under the conditions currently envisaged”.

“I am certain”, concludes the Prime Minister, “that the Commission will be able to understand the scope and urgency of this request, which arises from the need to respond concretely to the real priorities of Italian and European citizens in such a delicate moment”.