In a statement released yesterday, Antonio Gozzi, president of the Italian federation of steel producers, expressed full support for the Italian government’s position on the European Green Deal, as outlined by Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni during her recent address to the Italian senate ahead of the European Council meeting. In her speech to the senate, Meloni called on the European Commission to make corrections to the Green Deal or else Italy would withdraw its support from new green initiatives. “We call on the European Commission to take bold action to correct a large number of risky choices made in the past with the Green Deal, which are now showing all their limitations. Otherwise, let me be clear, Italy is not prepared to support new counterproductive initiatives to pursue the interests of bizarre majorities in Europe,” Meloni stated.
“Finally, the Italian government,” Gozzi said, “has taken a clear and strong position on the European Green Deal. It is an important signal that goes in the direction long indicated by industry: climate and environmental targets cannot be defined without at the same time ensuring their actual achievability and economic sustainability.”
Mr. Gozzi also emphasized that Italy’s decision not to endorse the proposal presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen represents “a responsible choice” fully shared by the steel sector. “For some time now,” he added, “we have been calling for a pragmatic, non-ideological approach to the green transition - one that safeguards the competitiveness of our production system and protects industrial employment.”
According to Gozzi, the Green Deal must be understood as a true European industrial policy, capable of supporting decarbonization and innovation within companies, “but with timelines, tools and rules consistent with economic realities”.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, Federacciai recently expressed a positive view on the permanent safeguard regime proposed by the European Commission, describing it as “a broadly positive measure” aimed at protecting competitiveness and production stability in the European steel industry.