Date:
11 April 2019
Statement by Marco Bonometti, President of Confindustria Lombardia
Milan, 11 April 2019 - “For Italy and Lombardy, being a country integrated within the European Union framework is vital and essential. Only by being part of a system that is increasingly integrated at a political, fiscal, customs, commercial and financial level can our country grow consistently and build a future of development, employment and prosperity. Industry must return to the heart of Europe, and in this period of slowdown, our continent needs the real economy to support the recovery of economic growth and employment. There is a pressing need for a European industrial policy focused on a few long-term priorities to maintain our role as a manufacturing powerhouse and compete in global markets. To achieve this, we must build a new vision for Europe, creating a major project for development and political-economic integration, as well as fiscal and capital markets union.
We must work together so that Italy, as the second-largest manufacturer in Europe and the seventh in the world, secures a significant and decisive mandate,” stated Confindustria Lombardia President Marco Bonometti during the Milan leg of the Confindustria roadshow ‘Reforms for Europe – Business Proposals’ for the North-Western constituency.
“There is a need for more Europe and less bureaucracy, and it is essential to define the rules for the national transposition of directives. This renewal must come from within the Union itself, led by capable and competent individuals, addressing the critical issues that have emerged with determination and resolve, and amending rules that are no longer effective,” concludes Bonometti.
There are three pillars, integrated and consistent with the proposals of Confindustria, upon which Confindustria Lombardia believes the European Union’s action must focus from 27 May onwards:
- Industry and innovation: access to European innovation funds; synergies between Structural Funds and directly managed European R&I programmes; effective implementation of the future Digital Europe programme; and leveraging the international platform of the World Manufacturing Foundation;
- Strategic plan for the automotive sector: launching a strategic programme co-financed by European and regional resources; defining major supply chain projects to develop technological trends; activating a transition path from current technologies to innovative future ones; and promoting new regulations to reduce emissions;
- Infrastructure: making Northern Italy a true intercontinental mobility hub through a major integrated European project; completing the missing sections of the trans-European transport networks, which are necessary to ensure the free movement of goods and people and to strengthen the growth, employment and competitiveness of the European Union; seizing the opportunities arising from the construction of the new Silk Road; and developing a major project to upgrade ports in the Upper Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas while strengthening air connectivity.
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