EU finds agreement on Recovery fund and budget: veto from Poland and Hungary overcome

The leaders of theEuropean Union have reached agreement on the multiannual budget and on the Recovery funds overcoming the veto set by Poland And Hungary on the link between European funding and respect for the rule of law. The announcement was made by the President of the European Council Charles Michel at the end of the first day of work at the summit which, in addition to the recovery plan, is addressing sensitive issues such as post-Brexit trade relations with London and relations with Turkey. There is “the agreement on multi-year budget (2021-2027) and on Next Generation EU”, wrote Michel on Twitter, “Now we can start with the implementation and reconstruction of our economies. Our major recovery package will drive the green and digital transition forward.” The agreement was also confirmed by the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen: "Europe goes forward!", commented the German politician, underlining that the agreement allows for the use of "1.8 billion euros to fuel the recovery" after the crisis generated by the Covid-19 pandemic and build a "more resilient, green and digital" EU. Von der Leyen then congratulated the German presidency of the EU Council.

It was precisely the political skill of the chancellor Angela Merkel to reach a compromise between the leaders of Budapest and Warsaw who had firmly opposed the conditionalities on the rule of law posed by Brussels, accusing Europe of wanting to interfere in their internal affairs. The first glimmer of a possible agreement had already appeared on the eve of the summit when the Polish deputy prime minister Jaroslaw Gowin he had announced the reaching of an agreement with Hungary and Germany that would keep "Poland sovereign and the EU united". The obligation to respect the rule of law has remained, but the agreement promoted by Berlin actually provides for an extension of the times for applying any sanctions, involving in the procedure the EU Court of Justice. The Hungarian premier himself Viktor Orbán arriving at the summit he stressed that the leaders were one step away from reaching an agreement: "It is obvious that when our countries and so many millions of people have real needs due to the pandemic and its economic consequences, we must behave in a reasonable way" , underlined the prime minister, using more conciliatory tones than those adopted previously. The invitation to reach an agreement on the European package which will allow the economic recovery of the Union after the heavy Covid-19 crisis, he also arrived today from the president of the European Parliament: David Sassoli addressing the heads of state and government, he remarked that it was "time to wrap up" the discussions for the good of European citizens. The agreement, stressed the spokesman of Merkel Steffen Seibert, was achieved unanimously; "Europe is moving forward, united" and "is maintaining its values", commented the French president Emmanuel Macron, "the historic European recovery plan decided in July is now taking shape".

The tension in the Government does not diminish. Pressing by Iv on Conte or plan B with Draghi

First understand what to do, how to spend EU funds, for example those destined for health care which are few at the moment (on this they agree both Matthew Renzi that the Minister Robert Hope), then address the issue of governance. There control room on the Recovery plan will remain frozen, at least this is the conviction of the IV leader, who for days has been insisting on the need for a stop by Joseph Conte. A draft of the plan should arrive on the table of the next CDM to be sent to the Chambers; the secretary of the Democratic Party also makes it clear Nicola Zingaretti, relaunching the invitation to unblock the impasse on all dossiers, not just the Recovery: “We will be facing in a few days – he explains – a proposal on the Recovery Fund. It is a proposal, not a closed package in itself. She is the daughter of the positive work of these months but is dutifully open to confrontation in Parliament, even with the opposition, and in the country. Just as, on the basis of the priorities that we too have contributed to defining in the majority, the definitive allocation of resources will have to be decided”. The premier speaks of a misunderstanding on Recovery, of the fact that the Ministers will not be commissioned but Italia Viva does not give in. The plan A it is therefore calling everything into question, starting with the Recovery plan: getting to French model, one approxcoordination with the parliamentary forces and the social partners, without setting limits to a mission unit but leaving the power to decide on projects to politics (and the Council of Ministers). The plan B is the hypothesis of a institutional executive and many in the majority and opposition parties in recent days have returned to look at Mario Draghi, believing that only he, as an alternative to Conte, can manage the 209 billion.

For days, the Prime Minister has made it known that he is available to negotiate on the Recovery, like the Minister Robert Gualtieri, with the premise that a structure and coordination are necessary, above all to avoid delays in front of the EU. But even in one wing of the Democratic Party there is irritation with the method carried out by the premier: the suspicion is that Joseph Conte you are creating your own structure, if not your own party. The mediation will open in the Council of Ministers with the bridge bridges at work to cool the climate, but Renzi does not give up. The invitation to the chief executive to mediate also comes from 5 star movement, grappling with other abandonments (four in the Chamber), possible sanctions (for those who voted no to the reform of the Mes) and a reform of internal governance (the hypothesis is of a collegial body of 5) which is slow to arrive; takes charge of it Louis DiMaio. The exit strategy is "not to remove power from ministries, regions and municipalities" but to build "regulations that make everything faster". On the yellow and red front it is a common belief that the prime minister must take the restart project if he does not want to be overwhelmed, because on the plan B, if the conditions are created, it will be difficult to escape. Even among the M5S groups, apart from the "no to technicians", the line "do everything to avoid going home" prevails.

The oppositions for the moment remain in the window

It is not only the majority but also theopposition to await the moves of the Prime Minister. Months ago Matthew Salvini opened to the prospect of a institutional government to then close that door, also because his availability had not been accepted. But, faced with what all the big names in the via Bellerio party consider a real democratic emergency, many in the League they went back to thinking about the plan B. The moderate wing that refers to Giancarlo Giorgetti he identifies a crossroads: "Either we stay on the river bank and witness the big bang of this majority or, faced with a changing picture, we evaluate other alternatives". Salvini does not look at that crossroads, even if he does not exclude anything. The Captain's belief is that this executive cannot hold up but for the moment there is no intention of making openings to other governments; it's up to the Democratic Party to understand, Giorgetti reasoned the other day with some MPs, that it has everything to lose. In this situation of uncertainty, the one who gains is Conte who continues to govern. Known that as well Brothers of Italy he doesn't believe that Renzi can overturn the table and that Giorgia Meloni points only to the vote, even in FI now the imperative is another, or that of a centre-right united: "However, we think only of the country and we will never go to support this government," explains a genuine Berlusconi. The match on the Recovery Fund passes from Europe, with the agreement reached in Brussels but above all from Parliament.

The M5S is in a storm, the patrol of exiles is growing

Others 4 deputies That they leave the M5S but many, many more, who now come out into the open by voting in disagreement with the Group and not only on the Mes but also, for example, on the security decree. After the spills in Brussels, the one going on in the M5S looks like a free everyone, an escape that no internal rule of the Movement seems able to stem anymore. The group is disintegrated and waiting for the path of the States General really lead to something new, we try to run for cover. In these days the members are called to vote on the conclusions of the States General closed a month ago, then more in-depth discussions will start on the issues of new pentastellata diary. But time flies and Louis DiMaio he doesn't want to wait any longer. He calls for a vote on the summary document because, he warns, "a strong movement is needed for a strong government", and above all he recalls that he has now resigned since last January: "a year has passed, so let's vote and start again, but there is no 'there is more time: the longer we wait, the more political initiative on the most important issues is missing”. In the meantime, however, while the foundations are being laid for reorganize the M5S of the future, the current one is in the storm: the government wing's victory over the Mes also brought a deep wound, with the exiles and those always ready to take the leap who cry out for betrayal.

At the Room there were thirteen nos to the reform of the Mes, plus ten who did not participate in the vote: now they pass to the Misto group Charles de Girolamo, Anthony Lombard, Maria Lapia And Fabio Berardini. Indiscretions speculate that the latter could move to FdI while the Pd announces that the former 5 Stars Paul Lactantius And Michael Nitti they go to their group. The farewell of the four is accompanied by an avalanche of accusations towards the turn taken by the M5S: “We 13 deputies who voted consistently with our electoral program were threatened with expulsion and marginalized. The climate has become so toxic that I no longer recognize myself in this political force” complains Berardini. Everyone posts their long farewell letter in which they point their fingers at all the betrayals operated by the Movement: from the failed revocation of the motorway concessions to the law on conflict of interest, from the tax reform to the reduction of the duration of the trials, from Rai to Ilva, to the Tav, to the F35. And on the direct democracy: "You vote only when it's convenient, perhaps with pre-packaged questions" while "decisions are taken in small rooms, the so-called fireplaces". Meanwhile, while some of these deputies have also refused to put their signature under the new security decree (three voted against and 5 abstained), the situation in the Senate is even more delicate: on the Mes two senators (Mattia Crucioli and Bianca Laura Granato) voted against while nine did not participate in the vote, of which 4 were justified absent while Nicola Morra, Laura Angrisani, Rosa Abate, Margherita Corrado, Fabrizio Trentacoste chose him instead.

Of the refreshments runs aground in the Senate, approval on the wire

The refreshment decree being examined by the Senate, he ran aground for an all-political game that is played on another table, that of Christmas decree. The provision thus risks arriving in the Chamber on Monday without a mandate for the rapporteur, therefore without any parliamentary modification, despite the dowry of 600 million available to senators to correct the shot or add new features to the four government provisions. L'opposition has in fact decided to do it openly stonewalling, demanding the illustration of every single amendment (4,000 in all), to try to obtain results on the decree on Christmas travel. The dl is incardinated in the Chamber, but also in the Senate the group leaders of League, FI And Brothers of Italy they ask for an easing of restrictions especially between neighboring municipalities. The decision of the president of the Senate Elizabeth Casellati scheduling the motion signed by the opposition in the Chamber on December 16 could have unblocked the situation, but one day was lost anyway and the time for the approval of the decree is running out; the provision, which expires on December 27, is expected to be examined by the Assembly of Palazzo Madama on Monday 14.

A postponement "is absolutely excluded", explained the undersecretary at the MEF Maria Cecilia Guerra because there would be no time for the subsequent passage to the Chamber where the maneuver is being worked on at the same time. If an agreement were not found even after the glimmer opened by Casellati, however, the improvements that the groups had discussed so far would be lost along the way: from the apprenticeship tax relief to the financing of the RSA, from the discount on electricity bills of companies to landlords willing to lower rents. The question of extending the block on evictions, currently under evaluation, could instead migrate to the budget law, where similar amendments already exist. In the maneuver attention is currently focusing on some maxi-themes, from the car, for which an extension of the incentives is assumed, to tourism and in particular to skiing, up to transport, and on ad hoc measures for the territories hit by the earthquake. In this case, the resources available to Parliament amount to 800 million, but the idea of using the anti-Covid fund from 3.8 billion, or at least a part, for new interventions.