“I don’t want to hear words of pessimism. We and the United States are historic allies. Our values of democracy and the rule of law are the same, and we have common positions on Russia as well as on Iran. I don’t want to leave Davos with a sense of defeatism. This, for us, is the time to act.”
“We should not be afraid of Donald Trump. I think we have lost a little bit of self-confidence recently,” says Roberta Metsola. The President of the European Parliament speaks from the World Economic Forum in the same minutes in which the tycoon talks about the new ‘stars and stripes’ economic doctrine and shakes the Old Continent, announcing a phone call with Vladimir Putin to end the war. A war, which, he says, Ukraine is also about to end.
“We are the number one partner for the United States, Tesla’s first customer outside North America,” she explains. However, after the attacks on tariffs and the Green Deal, there is fear among businesses and chancelleries. There is talk of a Europe that is struggling… “I don’t want to hear words of pessimism. We and the United States are historic allies. Our values of democracy and the rule of law are the same, and we have common positions on Russia as well as on Iran. I don’t want to leave Davos with a sense of defeatism. This, for us, is the time to act.”
The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, said that the Old Continent is experiencing an existential crisis and that it is time to wake up. How?
“I start from a key element of Enrico Letta’s report: we talk about the single market, but in reality we still have 27 markets. And to restore competitiveness, as Mario Draghi explained to us, we need 800 billion euros. We have a huge financial potential, but we need to restore trust in the private sector, collaborating with the public within an adequate regulatory framework, which guarantees security for businesses. This is what Lagarde means. Last night, during a dinner with CEOs of technology companies, one of them said that there is a regulation, but then 27 different ways to implement it. This means that operating in Europe is still very complicated for a medium-sized company. But if we do nothing, in the next elections we will face results that we will not like.
Will the EU take action against Elon Musk? And are you worried about his power and incursions into European politics?
I make a distinction between a digital service, which must comply with European rules, and a person who must be guaranteed freedom of expression and who can say whatever he wants. But what we have to ask ourselves is why are we not able to dialogue with him? We are the first customers of his electric cars outside the US. Why don’t we deal with us? That’s the thing, don’t be afraid of a person who revolutionized space technology.
Economists’ studies say that Europe risks being squeezed between America and China. What role do you see for the EU?
First of all, we need to act with honesty and coherence. We need to say one thing, not 27 different things. And we need to be careful, because China wants to have the technological and intellectual capacity to build its own products at home.
So what?
We have players and a field of action, we have to play by the rules. I think this also explains the decision of the United States in recent months, namely a kind of strategic autonomy. The problem, in our case, is that if we are not careful we risk losing more ground. Let’s take India: once it was a producer of goods, today it is only a consumer. And this is an important warning for us. We have to be careful.
Are you afraid that after the upcoming elections in Germany, support for Ukraine may disappear?
No, and I will explain why. Ukraine is not something external to Europe. We are fighting for our values, and a Russian victory would be good for neither the EU nor the United States. We must now seek a solution with Ukraine at the table, but we cannot do so if either of us takes a step back. Nothing should be decided about Ukraine without Ukraine, and this has never been more important, especially in the last hours, in light of Trump’s message to Putin. You see, without security we have nothing. And here we return to the discussion of growth. If we take the right path, we will be able to return to investing more in defense.
Do sanctions work?
We have put in place important packages, but we have to admit that there are many gaps. Some countries that say they are doing this are not actually implementing them, and we need to work hard to address this problem.
CNN colleagues ask the audience at the World Economic Forum to choose one word to describe the year 2025. What’s yours?
Believe it, without a doubt.
(La Repubblica)