Rome has threatened to withdraw from the EU’s flagship rearmament program, SAFE, unless Brussels extends budgetary “escape clause” measures to allow spending to protect Italy from the Middle East energy crisis.
In a letter addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Giorgia Meloni, Italian Prime Minister, asks her to suspend EU spending rules, currently relaxed for defense or rearmament spending, in order to also cover energy measurements.
“We cannot justify to our citizens that the EU allows financial flexibility for security and defense purposes in the strict sense, but not to protect families, workers and businesses from a new energy crisis that threatens to have serious repercussions on the real economy,” says the letter, seen by Euractiv
“Europe’s security is not measured solely by its military capabilities. It is also measured by its capacity to enable businesses to continue producing, households to cover their energy costs and states to ensure economic and social stability. HAS”
She warned that if her demand was not met, Italy could withdraw from the EU’s 150 billion euro SAFE rearmament fund, dealing a major blow to European efforts to strengthen security and defense.
“In the absence of such necessary political coherence, it would be very difficult for the Italian government to explain to public opinion a possible use of the SAFE program under the conditions currently envisaged,” she wrote.
The letter follows several days of tensions within the Italian government coalition, with Matteo Salvini’s League putting pressure on the executive to take a tougher stance on budget austerity, thus widening an ever-deepening gap over spending linked to the defense.
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, a member of Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, publicly stated that he had already written twice to the Economy Ministry, led by Giancarlo Giorgetti (Lega), to ask for guidance on the activation of SAFE contracts, without obtaining any response from the latter.
The letter links rising energy pressures to tensions in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the lingering repercussions of Russia’s war in Ukraine, noting that these factors are already leading to sharp and uneven increases in energy prices, ” with consequences for households, businesses, competitiveness and purchasing power.”
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/2023/08/21/64e385df259cf_thibaud-template-live.png "DIRECT. War in the Middle East: the G7 Finances in Paris to discuss the economic consequences of the conflict")
