by Andrea Boscaro, founder of The Vortex
We are living a delicate moment in the Eurozone and, in particular, it will be so in the run-up to the British referendum that will take place in June. How do you judge such a moment?
Daniele Viotti I think this is not the best moment in history to be European. Not only the British referendum. Schengen is under siege. We are facing a growing anti-European feelings towards member states (due to the political inefficiency of the Barroso Commission that embodied the worst side of the so-called European technocracy). The pillars of the Union, born following the political dream of people who wanted an open and peaceful continent, are threatened by several degrees of intolerance (countries willing to build walls, parties screaming about the need for a new kind of borders). The European project must be renewed with a real political agenda about sustainable growth, reforms to face poverty and improve employment, environmental issues, innovative technologies. We need more Europe, and more politics: now more than ever.
Recently, the EMP Roberto Gualtieri, who took part in the negotiation with Britain, stated that such an agreement paves now the way for more homogeneous decisions among the other member states. What do you think?
Daniele Viotti I think that the political agreement negotiated during the European Council was the only possible outcome. Now I believe that is time for the Eurozone to think more deeply about its future. Now that the british alibi is gone we can start a real reform process, strengthening our economic governance and work together for a fairer and more complete union. There are risks too, I believe that some countries will try to exploit the british referendum to held similar consultations, maybe trying to blackmail other partners and the European Commission. In this sense we must stand strong showing that the European project is not a “menu a la carte” but a political and historic commitment.
You have been EMP since May, 2014: how is Europe seen from Brussels? How difficult is to communicate what’s being done at the European level in the member states?
Daniele Viotti I come back to my constituency every week and I spend every weekend from town to town trying to explain both what we do as EMP and what we need to do in the further future. Unfortunately, we live under a consistent “echo chamber” where no one is really listening. I can’t talk for other member states, but Italian media coverage is not sufficient. “Europe” is a topic worth covering only if we can talk about polemics and fight against the Commission and the member state. We keep drawing “Europe” as an evil and an abstract entity and we EMP have little possibilities to express on mainstreams media to spread our voice. I keep working step-by-step, spreading the message town to town in order to let people know what we can do and what we have to do in the future if we want the European project to be ongoing.
The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi often stresses the need for an European civil service and will finance an European study center in Ventotene to highlight the common values European Union is based on. How can we improve the spirit of the Union in Italy?
Daniele Viotti According to politico.eu, Matteo Renzi is one of the key decisional figure of Europe. His government is strongly European and the party he leads – my party, the Democratic Party – has an European vocation. Italy can be a main actor to improve and renew the spirit of the Union but it has to work hard on alliances both from the government side (connecting the new left-wing and socialist leaders and build a new European agenda to overpass the “austerity agenda”) and the political side, reforming the PSE party in an active political player able to lead and not only to reply to the conservative political frame.
Many decisions, in the ICT areas, are taken at the European level: e-commerce and telecommunication are only some of those industries where innovation is brought forward particularly in Brussels and Strasbourg. How do you judge the commissions are working in these areas?
Daniele Viotti In my opinion the European level is the only one where issues like net neutrality, geoblocking and privacy concerns should be addressed. Unfortunately we don’t have an institution like the american FCC and our ICT sector is chronically underdeveloped but, nevertheless, Europe is still one of the biggest markets in the world, so having an efficient legislation is crucial. In the European Parliament we took technology issues as one of the key areas of 2014 – 2019 mandate. The European Commission should be less shy in its proposals but, from a progressive point of view, I think that is safe to say that the European Parliament is 100% committed for a more integrated, efficient and user friendly digital single market.
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