The Italian semester which began on 1 July is a great opportunity for the Italian presidency to demonstrate to all its willingness to strengthen the European Union in its relations with its citizens. The aim of the Italian presidency of the council of the European Union is to foster the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of EU institutions, bringing them closer to the European people.
After several years of economic crisis, if I were asked to indicate the three main priorities of the Italian presidency, I would say: jobs, jobs and jobs. There are currently more than 26 million unemployed people across Europe, and if we really want to improve the fundamental consensus of citizens towards the EU, we must boost Europe to create jobs. In my country, almost one young person out of two unemployed does not work. This is simply unacceptable. One of the biggest challenges of the EU is to respond effectively to the need of greater employment opportunities. The Italian presidency will emphasise the relevance of ongoing initiatives to fight youth unemployment, most particularly via the youth guarantee schemes and the youth employment initiative, as well as through the European social fund. For these reasons, the intergovernmental summit on youth unemployment that will take place in Turin will be a very important event, following up the meetings held in Berlin and Paris in 2013.
"After several years of economic crisis, if I were asked to indicate the three main priorities of the Italian presidency, I would say: jobs, jobs and jobs"
Fostering the business environment can represent a path to generating new and high-quality jobs, which can create a positive and fruitful relationship with the research and innovation sector. With this aim in mind, the presidency will promote an effective use of EU instruments, such as the EU programme for the competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To this end, it is of fundamental relevance to make the best possible use of Horizon 2020 and of the European structural and investment funds. As such, our presidency will be strongly committed to the best possible improvement of green jobs. Greening business is a crucial issue to concern both on unemployment and on the achievement of environmental sustainability objectives. The aim of the council is to ensure that the post-2020 EU will be on track to meet its climate objectives, also in view of the UN climate summit that will be held in September 2014 and the UN framework convention on climate conferences of parties in 2014 and 2015.
However, the climate issue cannot be isolated from the energy one. We consider it extremely relevant that a more environmentally friendly, cost-effective and secure energy sector is constructed. The council will promote an increasing supply and routes' diversification and a European external energy policy focused on energy security. The completion of the single market for energy will also contribute further to growth and jobs, while ensuring greater efficiency with true competition in the retail market. We need to liberalise this sector where it still shows rigidities, an aspect that concerns my country first.
When I participate in events and debates over the major European issues, I feel very disappointed every time that fundamental rights and humanitarian issues are excluded from the discussion. How is it possible that the EU was allowed move far away from these kinds of issue? How was it possible to allow a focus only on economic and financial topics, which are of course very relevant, at the cost of attention on fundamental human rights?
"A fundamental objective of the Italian presidency is to help the EU gear up in foreign policy and act as an effective major player in the international context"
Migration policies will be one of the most important issues of the entire Italian presidency. All countries saw what happened in Lampedusa last year, and it is unacceptable to simply turn away in front of such dramatic events. Italy has been left alone to manage massive arrivals of human beings. There is a lack of true European action in this field: on the one hand you have northern European countries that are receiving a very high number of asylum requests, much higher than the EU average, and on the other hand you have countries which are fully exposed and isolated from the rest of the EU in facing migration troubles. There is a fundamental misperception in Europe: perhaps many countries consider migration an Italian problem, but things are very different. The Italian government created 'Mare nostrum', but it should have been labelled 'Europa nostra', given that the Mediterranean affects the many and not just the few. The presidency will continue its efforts to promote genuine solidarity at European level, involving some new projects around a possible European system of border control guards. Moreover, increasing funds for existing programmes such as Frontex cannot be postponed any longer, as well as boosting dialogue with third countries of origin and transit of migratory flows. In this respect, the presidency will host on 26-27 November the fourth Euro-African ministerial conference on migration and development, in Rome.
A European Union which takes care of migrants could be recognised as a European Union closer to people's needs. Fundamental rights in this respect play a decisive role, and for this reason the Italian presidency will encourage the completion of the process of the EU's accession to the European convention for the protection of human rights, and promote an effective establishment of a mechanism for monitoring the respect of fundamental rights within our union.
A fundamental objective of the Italian presidency is to help the EU gear up in foreign policy and act as an effective major player in the international context. This requires a two pronged approach. First, our attention on Mediterranean issues takes on even more relevance because the presidency wants to play a pivotal role in the Middle East area. Libya, Syria and many other theatres of crisis urge Europe to provide an effective answer. The presidency will help the EU in promoting democratic principles and social development in Arabic countries, and will also support the resumption of the negotiations between the parties in the Middle East peace process.
"When I participate in events and debates over the major European issues, I feel very disappointed every time that fundamental rights and humanitarian issues are excluded from the discussion"
Second, we need to confirm and reinforce the relationship with the United States, in order to strengthen western relations. In this light, the transatlantic trade and investment partnership needs to be substantially improved, and if a compromise has to be reached, it should be a high compromise, in order to secure an effective agreement on major issues such as trade, services and circulation of people.
Looking eastward, the Italian presidency will foster discussion on the enlargement process. Currently, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the biggest EU enlargement that has ever taken place, on 1 May 2004. It is time to push enlargement out to the western Balkans, whose negotiations need to be advanced.
Finally, our most pressing and urgent concern is represented by the Ukrainian crisis. The Italian government has encouraged dialogue with Russia in order to attain a peaceful solution to the crisis. It is my firm belief that the EU should follow this path, including with Russia, which still is a strategic partner, in any negotiation or peace talks that may take place.