The premier: Omicron requires maximum attention on the pandemic. The draft of the summit in Brussels: no to disproportionate measures on travel
Italy’s decision to introduce theswab obligation also for vaccinated people arriving from the EU will be a matter of debate today at European Council. In Brussels Draghi will defend the measure, which in Parliament explained in this way. In Italy so far “there have been 134 thousand dead: we got back to normal at this price. We want to defend and we will defend this normality tooth and nail. Now there is Omicron which has a much higher contagion capacity than the other variants, and with us the contagions with Omicron are less than 0.2%, in other countries the variant is widespread, so it was decided to implement the same practice that is used today for visitors coming from the United Kingdom, I don’t think there is much to reflect on this ».
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“No fight”
In short, a decision of common sense. And despite sources of the Commission they do leak out
a kind of disappointment
(in the draft conclusions all member states would be asked “not to adopt measures that disproportionately hinder freedom of movement”), also the Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio he robs the affair on a minor register: “No confrontation with the EU. We have a responsibility to protect the lives of Italians, every decision taken is the result of careful reflection with the scientific community “.
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A quiet Christmas
And also in the light of the decision made, Mario Draghi says that “we can look forward to Christmas and at parties with relative tranquility»Despite the international and European context:« The arrival of winter and the spread of the Omicron variant require us the utmost attention. Contagions are on the rise across Europe: in the last week there have been an average of 57 cases per day for every 100,000 inhabitants. In Italy, the incidence is lower, almost half, but it is still growing. The government has decided to renew the state of emergency until March 31 to have all the necessary tools to face the situation “.
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The comparison with 2020
But there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic. Draghi presents a series of numbers that lead us to look to the future with less apprehension than 12 months ago: “The total number of people currently positive to the virus in Italy is 297 thousand. Twelve months ago it was 675,000, despite a much higher level of restrictions. The 8,026 people are hospitalized. As of December 14, 2020, there were 30,860. In the last seven days there have been on average 95 deaths per day, in the same period as a year ago there were 629“. The difference is primarily the result of the vaccination campaign: «Within a year we have vaccinated nearly 46 million people with two doses. Today in Italy more than 85% of the population over 12 has received two doses, and about 20% also made the third. I want to encourage once again those who have not been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible, and those who have taken the first two doses to do the third as soon as possible. As a recent study shows the unvaccinated have an 11 times greater risk of dying than those who received the second dose, and almost 17 times greater than those who received the third dose ».
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Do the Pnnr well
The speech by the President of the Council also covers other and different topics, of European politics as well as of internal politics. On the second point he defends the recent economic measures, underlining that against expensive bills the government allocated “about 8 billion euros in six months” and defends the relationship with trade unions: “We have always had an attitude of listening and comparison and we are going to listen to their proposals in the coming days on the possible reform of pensions”. Hence the great work in progress on the NRP: «If they arrive 220 billioni of the Next Generation means that other EU countries have agreed to tax their citizens to give money to Italy and this means that we must be deeply responsible to show that trust is deserved. These investments and the related reforms must be done and well ”.
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European reforms
But in the face of this, we need to press for the EU itself to equip itself with new reforms. There is a «need to overcome the principle of unanimity, which today means inaction, not action, in the face of the challenges that Europe is facing “, and this” also applies to foreign and defense policy “. The same goes for a stability pact that “it certainly cannot be reformed following the rules of the past”. We live “in an era of trauma, the pandemic that continues, the transition, the great changes underway”, and for this “one must always keep an eye on the weakestBut also towards possible, if not necessary, reforms. And in the case of the EU, there is also that of aiming for a “true political union”. Then the other issues of the Council. Starting with energy, for which Draghi hopes that “an integrated storage of sources” will be reached on a European scale, even if there is no agreement on the issue. Or the theme of common defense: we must «get closer to a genuine European defense and encourage the construction of a common strategic culture. We want to improve crisis management capabilities linked to hybrid, cyber and disinformation threats ».
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December 15, 2021 (change December 15, 2021 | 22:34)
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