Thursday

1st Jun 2023

Monti to make Italy 'driving force' of EU integration

  • Monti (l) has risen to prominence alongside 'Merkozy' (Photo: Présidence de la République - C.Alix)

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti charmed all major political parties in the European Parliament on Wednesday (15 February), pledging to defend EU institutions at a time when national governments are increasingly blaming Brussels for austerity.

"Too often in Brussels as a commissioner I saw national governments pointing the finger at EU institutions after they were part and parcel of the decision making process. I made a pledge never to play this dirty trick on the EU," the former EU commissioner, appointed last year as head of the Italian government told MEPs in Strasbourg to warm applause.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

His speech - one of the rare occasions when Italian was used for over an hour in the assembly - was aimed at restoring his country's standing as one of the founding members of the EU and the euro after years of political penumbra under his controversial predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi.

The new Italy - in the words of Monti, a former banker and economics professor - will be committed not only to austerity, but also to growth and will not just "passively transpose EU guidelines, but wants to be a major driver of these guidelines."

It is in this "spirit" that he invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Rome on Friday, for talks which will "focus on the community method and recognise the priority of EU institutions."

He noted that Germany and France, with the "complicity" of Italy, were the first to water down original eurozone discipline rules, the so-called Stability and Growth Pact.

He promised to do everything he can not to further increase the gap between euro and non-euro countries. He also pointedly switched to English when criticising a "deeply superficial insular culture that naively might believe EU integration means a superstate" after the UK vetoed crisis-related changes to the EU Treaty last December.

His speech had something for everyone - praise for "German budget discipline culture," sympathy for Greece for arguably "excessive" austerity measures, but also a reproach that Athens cooked the books for years and tolerated "corruption, nepotism and dodgy public procurements."

Monti appeared to push all the right buttons.

Centre-right chief Joseph Daul - a Frenchman - said that even though he supports the Franco-German partnership as the "engine" of Europe, Monti is an "example" for the EU in his rejection of intergovernmentalism.

Socialist leader Hannes Swoboda urged him to "return to the European scene so we can elect you" as house speaker.

Liberal supremo Guy Verhofstadt suggested that Monti be sent to all troubled euro-countries once he has finished reforms in Italy. Even the Greens - usually caustic towards any unelected officials - had words of praise. "You are a strong man contributing to EU politics becoming more civilised," said Rebecca Harms, the Green group chief.

The only criticism came from the far right and the far left - for being an unelected technocrat and a member of the very same international banking elite that is to blame for the crisis in the first place.

MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024

"This will be the first time a member state that is under the Article 7 procedure will take over the rotating presidency of the council," French Green MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, the key lawmaker on Hungary, warned.

European Parliament scales back luxury MEP pension fund

The European Parliament's Bureau, a political body composed of the president and its vice-presidents, decided to slash payouts from the fund by 50 percent, freeze automatic indexations, and increase the pension age from 65 to 67.

Column

What a Spanish novelist can teach us about communality

In a world where cultural clashes and sectarianism seems to be on the increase, Spanish novelist Javier Cercas (b.1962) takes the opposite approach. He cherishes both life in the big city and in the countryside.

Opinion

Poland and Hungary's ugly divorce over Ukraine

What started in 2015 as a 'friends-with-benefits' relationship between Viktor Orbán and Jarosław Kaczyński, for Hungary and Poland, is ending in disgust and enmity — which will not be overcome until both leaders leave.

Latest News

  1. EU data protection chief launches Frontex investigation
  2. Madrid steps up bid to host EU anti-money laundering hub
  3. How EU leaders should deal with Chinese government repression
  4. MEPs pile on pressure for EU to delay Hungary's presidency
  5. IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target
  6. Europe's TV union wooing Lavrov for splashy interview
  7. ECB: eurozone home prices could see 'disorderly' fall
  8. Adapting to Southern Europe's 'new normal' — from droughts to floods

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us