Strong agreement in the interview at the Foreign Ministry between Deputy Minister Ivan Scalfarotto and Thomas Oppermann, Vice President of the German Bundestag. The deep economic, commercial and social interconnection between Italy and Germany and the need to maintain joint efforts to address a common destiny within the European Union were the key messages shared in the conversation.
First of all, Mr Scalfarotto thanked Germany for the concrete help brought to our country at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. He then highlighted the historical importance of the Recovery Fund and the Italian awareness that the country bears a particular responsibility due to the huge amount of resources made available to support a transformation of the economy in terms of competitiveness, digitisation, environmental sustainability and social inclusion.
“The Italian government is taking the work for the elaboration of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan very seriously: we have the responsibility to spend this money well, it is a challenge and a great opportunity at the same time” – the Deputy Minister stated.
On migration, following the presentation by the European Commission of the new Pact on Asylum and Migration, Mr Scalfarotto acknowledged that it partly recognises Italian needs. However, it remains necessary to start a negotiation phase to review some of the critical issues that the new Pact presents for Italy and for the European migration policy as a whole.
“Migrants going to Italy or Greece, or Spain are actually heading to Europe and the 27 have a common responsibility towards them. In general, the principle must be consolidated that when there is a crisis within the European Union, the crisis must be managed by the whole Union, not leaving the most affected countries alone”. – the Deputy Minister stressed out, agreeing with Vice President Oppermann on the need for greater sharing of the migration crisis at continental level.
