(Adnkronos) – Feted by world media as the most powerful European politician and with her hard-right government’s popularity undented after over two years in office, premier Giorgio Meloni should grasp the unique chance she now has to lead Europe and fix Italy’s longstanding economic woes, commentator Antonio Polito argued in Corriere della Sera daily on Tuesday.
To achieve this feat, Meloni should try and build a common European defence, tame Italy’s bloated bureaucracy, galvanize its chronically sluggish economy, cut its vast public debt, honour its pledge to return a 2% primary surplus by 2028 and invest in the health and education sectors, Polito wrote in a wide-ranging editorial.
“There are two possible strategies: wait on the riverbank for the German elections, for the end of the long of the French model, for the choices (incoming US president Donald) Trump will make on tariffs and wars,” Polito wrote.
“Or act now to take initiatives now that will really make us (Italy) leaders of a new Europe. For example: try to build a coalition of states for a European defence and for common military spending debt, which are the current existential issue for the European Union,” Polito went on.
Italy’s industrial crisis, marked by a structural decline in which the national economy is increasingly dominated by tourism, services and construction, and less and less by production, research and innovation poses a further dilemma for Meloni and her government, according to Polito.
While Meloni’s claim that employment is growing is true, Italy is “floating”, Polito stated, citing the Censis think-talk.
“The share of GDP made up by industry is much lower today than before (the) Covid (pandemic),” he wrote.
“We are a rich nation, but with low wages, below the European average, and have nearly six million poor,” he underlined.
If Meloni wants to win a second term of office, she and her government should already be making “painful” policy choices that include cutting “unproductive” spending and tax rebates, which would save a “mound” of interest payments, freeing up funding for investment, Polito claimed.
“Health and education need this. They are now the indicators of a nation’s degree of advancement and ability to compete. The government will find no argument from the opposition over the figures in these areas, because they are not looking good,” wrote Polito.
Italy’s citizens spend 41 billion euros a year from their own pockets for medical care; and 7.6% of people forego treatment because the health service waiting lists are too long and their family budgets are too tight to pay for it, Polito noted.
A further national ill is the number of high school students – just under half – with poor Italian and mathematical skills, Polito highlighted.
And Italy invests less on education than its spends on debt interest payments, he pointed out.
“All the figures warn us that if nothing is done, things will soon get worse,” Polito went on.
If these trends and the current rate of productivity growth continue, Europe’s economy will be the same size in 25 years’ time but will face “an enormous” rise in pension, energy and digitalisation costs, Italian ex-premier and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has calculated, Polito noted.
“This is especially true for us. We must act. It would be an immense shame if rhetorical clashes and propaganda wars were to squander the international credibility and domestic consensus that today give Giorgia Meloni a unique opportunity to get to grips with Italy,” Polito concluded.
