President Meloni’s speech at 2026 Confindustria AGM

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for this welcome.

I of course wish to greet President Orsini, and I thank him and everyone at Confindustria for this invitation. My greetings also go to the Ministers and the many authorities I can see before me in this hall. I obviously wish to greet and thank all the Confindustria delegates and above all convey my special greetings and thanks to the President of the Republic. I am not saying that out of formality; I think that the Head of State being here today reminds the entire nation once again of the important role Italian industry plays not only for our economy but also for our history, identity, culture, and I would also say reputation.

It is worth highlighting how much your hard work contributes to Italy’s global appeal. A significant part of our diplomacy is thanks to the solid reputation of Made in Italy; people’s opinion of us abroad is based on that reputation, strengthening Italy’s soft power. Not everyone here in Italy is aware of that power, but those like me, and many of you, who engage in dialogue with people abroad know how crucial it is for our credibility, for forging relationships, and for defending our interests.

This is the reason I want to seize the opportunity of this assembly first of all to thank you once again for your work. As always, the fact that Italy is universally recognised as being the homeland of beauty, excellence, and craftsmanship is thanks to our companies and their workers. It is thanks to those who are so ambitious and determined as to never settle for what they have achieved and to always want to set the bar higher, basically because they know that pride isn’t something you claim; pride is something that you demonstrate, day after day.

President Orsini also mentioned other words and values in his report that cannot simply be claimed, but must rather be demonstrated: trust, courage, responsibility. The scenario the President of Confindustria outlined in his address strongly resonated with me, and I will of course come back to this, but I would just like to thank him, and you, for acknowledging in various parts of the report the Government’s efforts over these years to put the focus back on labour, enterprise, and production.

I do not believe this was a given, especially not in a nation where – as has been mentioned – debate often slides into ideological battles, limited to one-sided cheerleading, and due attention never ends up being paid to the actual problems and solutions.

And yet, over these years – which is also why I am saying this – I believe we have shown that another way is possible. We have discussed issues without prejudice. We have discussed issues without going easy on each other. We have sometimes worked side by side, and at times we have told each other we weren’t in agreement, with the necessary frankness. In my view, the method we have adopted, and the results that method has achieved, represent a small but major revolution.

We have shown that, even when you start from different standpoints, you can at a certain point come together as a team if the goal you are pursuing is the same. The goal we are pursuing is the same: to put the nation in a position to be able to address the difficult challenges we are facing at this unpredictable time in the best way possible, and with its head held high.

This also means trust; it also means courage; it also means responsibility.

As President Orsini outlined in his report, the basic contours of the scenario we are operating in are of course clear to everyone in this room: the war in Ukraine; American tariffs; the conflict in Iran; the closure of the Strait of Hormuz; the role of China. I wish to thank President Orsini for speaking about this at length because, over recent years, some of us have been like unfortunate ‘Cassandras’ in this regard, and we have often done so alone, especially at European level – I am thinking of myself, for example, as well as Minister Giorgetti, Minister Tajani, and Minister Urso. Today, we are living through what several analysts have defined as an era of ‘polycrisis’; in other words, a scenario in which different kinds of crises, triggered by factors that are distant from each other, add up, overlap, and end up fuelling each other, creating a spiral that clearly has an extremely strong impact on the entire global political, economic, and social ecosystem. In a ‘polycrisis’, instability and uncertainty are not an exception but rather become the rule, laying bare the fragility of the world order as well as exposing and making us face the too many vulnerabilities which, for years, we naïvely and culpably pretended not to see.

As was extensively pointed out in the address before me, the main, huge, vulnerability that directly affects us is the European Union’s current configuration – a bureaucratic giant that has too often sacrificed competitiveness, growth, and strategic vision at the altar of ideological and technocratic approaches, helping push the continent towards gradual economic and geopolitical decline.  A Europe that is unstoppable in terms of its ability to multiply rules governing all aspects of daily life, but then suddenly becomes hesitant when it needs to make its voice heard in global dynamics.

These crises have also shown us how shortsighted it was to think that Europe could limit its role to merely being a trade platform, in an almost passive position between America and the major Asian players, leaving others to control the key links in value chains. When the shocks came along and those value chains, which were too long and too fragile, broke, we discovered just how dangerous it was to be exposed to dynamics beyond our control. We understood it was suicidal to accept that our fate depended on others’ choices when it came to critical raw materials, energy, and strategic sectors.

In other words, when history came knocking and wiped away all the ideological trappings, we woke up in the real world. And it was a rude awakening. We could also put it this way: what some for years had been brave enough to foretell and say out loud – paying the price of being branded ‘enemies of Europe’ – simply turned out to be true. 

Today, like yesterday – because we must learn from the mistakes of the past –, those who, like you and me, firmly stress the need for a step change in Europe’s efforts, do not do so to destroy things, but to build; they do not do so because they are some sort of Trojan horse with a dark power or interest, but rather because they care about their civilisation and its ability to shape the future. So, there is no need to be afraid of telling it like it is. We are asking for Europe to do less and do it better. We are asking for the principle of subsidiarity to be applied, meaning that Europe should deal with what Member States cannot do alone, and not with what Member States do better by themselves. We are calling for common-sense priorities and swift decision-making, because we are in an era in which the speed of your response to events determines where you stand in the scenario – in other words, whether you are among those guiding the decisions, or among those forced to endure them. 

A step change is certainly needed with regard to competitiveness, because it is impossible for us to ask our companies to compete on global markets if we are the first to hold them back, with hellish bureaucratic mechanisms and the suffocating weight of administrative burdens and regulations. Simplification and cutting red tape must be our mantra, in order to be a driving force for production rather than hindering it and ending up favouring foreign production, as has often been the case over the last years. I therefore agree – let’s start from here – that the Omnibus packages currently being worked on are insufficient and much more needs to be done to clear the regulatory jungle that has been built up over the last decades, almost as if its purpose was to satisfy the appetite of Europe’s administrative machine.

As you know, we are working on this, in particular with German Chancellor Merz as part of the efforts launched at the Italy-Germany bilateral summit in January, which have concretely led to several joint initiatives in which we are gradually involving more and more European leaders, namely those who are most sensitive to this issue.

However, I wish to be equally clear in saying that I believe we must also continue fighting to put politics back at the heart of the European institutions. This means reaffirming a basic principle of democracy: the purpose of bureaucracy is to support and implement political guidelines, not to replace politics – quite simply because bureaucracy does not have the mandate to do so.

What we have seen happen and still see happening in various areas – I am thinking of the packaging regulation and a number of climate targets, for example – is unacceptable. The agreements reached by politics, following what can be long and complex discussions – as you know and I know even better, because I experience them – must then be respected and consequently implemented; they must not be brought back into question, or even overturned, by interpretations which at times I consider surreal but which are passed off as technical interpretations, by people who don’t need to answer to anyone for their decisions, which is also perhaps why they have ended up losing touch with reality.

I am saying this to assure you that Italy intends to stand firm on this, because this is also where Europe’s political and strategic change of pace is put to the test. It is only by simplifying and speeding up administrative processes that we can revitalise investments and increase growth opportunities; above all, this can only be done if we make it clear that the rule is freedom: anything that is not expressly prohibited for an already protected higher interest must be permitted, unconditionally and without constraints, without any strings or snares attached, and without cages that only serve to suffocate economic initiative.

This is, after all, the approach we are trying to follow at the national level as well, thanks above all to the valuable suggestions from Confindustria and other industry associations. This can be seen in the simplifications provided for in the latest ‘NRRP Decree’, the substantial zero-cost package, and the proposals regarding development contracts, which you are working on with Minister Urso, whom I greet and thank.

Of course, I know this isn’t enough. To try and be concrete, I would therefore like to propose that we immediately launch a joint project to create a radical reform of bureaucracy in Italy. I think it is crucial we do this together, because when a service doesn’t work and you want to solve the problem, you have to ask the ones who use it. When it comes to Italian bureaucracy, you are the ‘users’, and you can help us more than anyone else to resolve the too many layers of encrusted red tape that have held you back from performing as you might have done had you not had to contend with all that excessive bureaucracy.

The other major goal we are setting ourselves is to continue also building mechanisms, including innovative ones, to incentivise growth and competitiveness. As has been mentioned, one such mechanism is certainly the single Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for the Mezzogiorno.

We have reduced bureaucratic turnaround times, sped up authorisations, and provided companies with clearer rules. As has also been mentioned, the result is that more than 1,300 investments have been authorised in just two years – including with the support of the tax credit, which we have also extended for three years –, with total business volumes amounting to EUR 55 billion and significant knock-on effects in terms of job creation.

It is also thanks to the SEZ that the Mezzogiorno has grown by more than the national average, in terms of both GDP and employment levels. Half a million people in the south of Italy have found work since the start of this Government’s mandate. I believe this is an extremely important sign, showing that when the state creates favourable conditions, the south of Italy is able to respond with energy and skill. It can even drive the economic growth of the entire nation, as development of the Mezzogiorno is essential for making the whole of Italy stronger and more competitive. This is not a ‘southern’ issue; it has always been a national issue, affecting all of us.

As you know, we have already extended the SEZ mechanism to another two regions – Marche and Umbria – but we intend to do more. So, yes, I can confirm that we are looking into the technical details of how we can take the simplification and authorisation mechanisms successfully trialled in the South and apply them throughout Italy. Alongside this measure, there is another which you called for and we believe can be equally as effective regarding investments: the hyper-depreciation mechanism, reintroduced in the last budget law. We are now awaiting the green light from the Corte dei Conti [Italian Court of Auditors] in order to finally be able to publish the related implementing decree in the Gazzetta Ufficiale [Official Gazette of the Italian Republic].

I would like to tell President Orsini that I believe it is correct and intelligent to consider including software and cloud investments among the incentives. I believe we need to face the world we are heading towards.

However, simplifying and drastically cutting administrative burdens is not enough unless brave, structural measures are also taken on another crucial front: energy. This weighs on the competitiveness of Italian companies more than anything else; this is also the case for European companies, but it is especially the case for Italian companies.

Here too, I wish to thank Emanuele Orsini for acknowledging the different approach this Government has sought to implement, in particular to increase the supply of investments and strengthen the tools available, with the goal of ensuring stability, continuity, and more predictable prices. Ever since taking office, we have worked to streamline the renewable energy authorisation framework and make it more efficient; to build incentivising mechanisms to favour an orderly integration of the electricity system; to diversify sources and routes; and to develop interconnections in the Mediterranean and beyond, also for the purpose of strengthening Italy’s role as a European hub for energy production and distribution at continental level.

We have approved a package of measures to reduce the burden of general system charges for citizens and businesses over time, as well as mechanisms to foster market-based electricity contract arrangements with prices aligned to costs, especially for SMEs. For energy-intensive companies, we have introduced measures such as the Gas Release or Energy Release schemes, which allow gas and electricity to be purchased at controlled prices. Thanks to the ‘Energy Decree’, we have guaranteed a concrete cut to gas and electricity bills for all companies as well as for vulnerable households, of course. The benefits for SMEs are estimated to reach EUR 9,000 per year for electricity and EUR 10,000 per year for gas.

However, with the ‘Energy Decree’, we have above all created the conditions to be able to provide structural solutions, i.e., not limited to the emergency, such as the mechanism that effectively introduces a decoupling of electricity and gas prices. A public platform will enable companies, including the smallest companies, to come together to purchase the energy they need directly from producers, thereby freeing themselves from the current market and therefore also from speculation. By leveraging the so-called ‘PPA’ market, this will allow for a reduction in energy prices, thanks also to a state guarantee through SACE [Italian Export Credit Agency] and GSE [state-owned energy services manager]. In our view, this measure opens new possibilities in terms of matching energy supply and demand and, as you know, has involved us working side by side for several months. The agreement being signed today between Confindustria and GSE goes precisely in this direction, allowing companies to pay lower energy costs that are fixed and index-linked for long periods, thereby protecting them from the sudden hikes of the spot market. Having long-term energy supply contracts will strengthen corporate balance sheets, making it easier for companies to access credit thanks to the state’s guarantee of last resort.

Furthermore, as has been mentioned and as I have reiterated on several occasions, we want to make swift progress along the path to return to nuclear energy in Italy, focusing on the most innovative technologies with small modular reactors that are safe and clean and will provide us with greater security as well as costs that are significantly lower than the current ones. I wish to reaffirm that the related enabling law will be approved by this summer, after which implementing decrees will be adopted to provide the necessary legal framework. I have no doubt that a resumption of nuclear energy production in Italy is a goal within our reach, and I have no doubt that this can mark a turning point for our competitiveness. I am therefore very determined about this.

Energy has been a priority of ours since day one. However, also in this regard, we can introduce all the measures we like at the national level, even the most effective and impactful measures, but we risk not achieving our objective anyway unless there is a parallel step change by Brussels at the European level.

We believe we must overcome the unreasonable approach towards the ecological transition which for too long has characterised the Green Deal era and has ended up weakening our production systems, jeopardising a number of industrial sectors, and consigning us to new dependencies, and without even managing to reach the set emission-reduction goals.

I would like to state that, in this regard too, those who immediately challenged the zealots of all-electric solutions, and had the courage to acknowledge something that risked being counterproductive, were quite right. It is a good thing that, today, a pragmatic approach to the green transition, rooted in the principle of technological neutrality, is slowly gaining more and more ground. This is also thanks to our work.

However, any signs of real change in European policies are, in our view, still only tentative.

Let’s take the ongoing debate regarding the ETS. I have said this in every possible forum imaginable, with a lot of determination: how paradoxical is it that a tax that was introduced to discourage polluting emissions has actually ended up also weighing on the final price of energy produced using renewable sources, thereby artificially inflating energy costs for Member States in an uneven way and therefore creating further disparities?

I think it is quite clear that the current ETS is somewhat distant from the actual needs of European industry. This is all the more true during this period of energy emergency, when common sense would lead anyone to temporarily suspend this measure, at least for the sectors most affected by the closure of Hormuz, pending its comprehensive and significant revision. Instead, I must unfortunately say that the preference once again seems to be to continue defending an ideological ‘totem’, moving forward with ‘benchmarks’ that have nothing to do with reality and actually risk requiring modification as soon as they come into force, simply because they are not sustainable.

This is certainly not the right way to restore Europe’s strategic autonomy, strength, and economic weight. This is the right way if we want to surrender ourselves to decline. However, as I have now said thousands of times, decline is not a matter of fate; decline is a choice, and the choice we are making is to fight that decline, not to give in to it. The Government therefore intends to keep putting up a fight on this front, but it also calls upon all those who care about our continent’s future to make their voices heard and give us a hand in this very important debate.

We are not afraid to tell it like it is, and we are certainly not lacking in the pragmatism to make common-sense proposals to our partners. This is what we are doing across the board, including in discussions regarding the consequences of the Iran crisis, which is clearly having a disruptive impact on costs for households and businesses and on the competitiveness of our production systems, making us more vulnerable.

These circumstances are clearly beyond the control of EU Member States and, in our view, amply justify extending the flexibility already granted for security and defence spending to also include the investments needed to tackle the energy crisis, in order to mitigate the impact the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is having on our households and businesses.

This is why, as you know, Italy has written to the European Commission to call for the scope of application of the National Escape Clause to also be extended to the measures needed to safeguard households, workers, and businesses against the impact of the crisis. This is not about getting authorisation to run up more debt at the national level; it is about better allocating the debt already provided for. Pure and simple common sense.

And, look, this doesn’t mean, as I have read somewhere, that we have changed our minds, that I have changed my mind, about defence spending. As I have already said and will say again: I have not changed my mind about this at all, even though I know full well how unpopular this issue is in Italy. I believe that serious leaders must tell the truth, and the truth is that, if you are unable to defend yourself and ask someone else to guarantee your security, then you will pay for it in terms of autonomy, sovereignty, and the ability to defend your national interests. Defence spending is the price to pay for freedom, and I want Italy to be a free nation. On the other hand, however, I also know that if today we don’t help households and businesses to overcome the effects of what is a significant crisis, then tomorrow we risk there being nothing left to defend in this nation, and so we must create a balance between these two needs.

Going back to Europe, I also agree on the need to swiftly build a real single market for capital and savings. We cannot pretend not to notice that, each year, more than EUR 300 billion of European capital ends up being invested outside the EU. We can no longer afford such a loss. Minister Giorgetti, together with his counterparts, has written a letter to the European Commission on this point, because we are aware of how crucial this matter is to strengthen our growth potential, strategic autonomy, and ability to fund Europe’s common priorities - clearly another major issue we have. At the same time, relaunching the European Single Market remains a priority, as this would safeguard Europe against other nations’ protectionist choices.

I wish to tell President Orsini that I personally agree with enhanced cooperation for these objectives if there is no possibility of finding other solutions, but if we could make these decisions with the approval of all 27, then I’m sure you can understand it would be a lot better.

As far as we are concerned, significant progress has been made. We have begun to unhinge the status quo and have certainly achieved important results. There is still a lot of work to do, at both European and national level. I propose to keep working together on several points, many of which are included in the President’s report. I have already mentioned some of them, and I’ll try to give you some answers on others, while trying not to take up too much of your time.

Firstly, I am in agreement on the issue of reorganising incentives, and I agree on the matter of reorganising tax expenditures. We must look into this matter with courage, openness, readiness, and dialogue, and I am therefore fully willing to begin a discussion on this.

The need was mentioned to reform the corporate liability system linked to ‘Decree 231’. We have no qualms about looking into this matter as well, because corporate responsibility cannot automatically turn into a criminalisation of companies. Here too, the European and international framework obliges us to comply with shared commitments, but I do think there is scope to ease the burden of red tape, to introduce factors that bring objectivity to the evaluation of protocols, and to leverage internationally recognised standards to certify that companies have adopted an appropriate level of safeguards.

Thirdly, Mr President, I found your references to the need to stimulate private capital very interesting. I would like to say a couple of things on this. The first is that I am fully willing to relaunch ‘PIRs’ [individual savings plans]. The second is that we intend to strengthen the mechanisms already introduced in the last budget law to boost the investments made by pension funds in the real economy, with particular regard to innovation, start-ups, and infrastructure. It’s obvious something isn’t working if, out of the EUR 260 billion collected from Italian workers, only EUR 40 billion ends up in Italy’s real economy, and so we must find a solution to this problem.

We likewise want to keep investing in the most valuable private capital we have: human capital. We must provide our young people with training, including on artificial intelligence. I agree on this too. I’m sure that Minister Valditara, whom I also greet and thank, will be more than happy to continue discussions on this point as well.  We must provide our young people with training and the right motivation – clearly also in economic terms – to stay and build their future here, not think that they’ll find better conditions elsewhere compared with the ones we are able to offer, starting of course with the fundamentals, such as the right to a home and the right to a fair wage. We have worked a lot together on these two priorities over the last months, joining forces.

With the ‘Piano Casa’ housing plan, we have created a mechanism that will allow more than 100,000 homes to be made available over ten years, helping workers and teachers, young couples and single-income households, who are struggling more and more to pay a mortgage or rent, especially in big cities. This innovative mechanism is the result of dialogue and collaboration with the best ideas from the business community, and will generate a positive multiplier for GDP and domestic demand. We want to expand this model as much as possible, to promote healthy and responsible economic initiative within a framework of clear rules and certain time frames. 

With the ‘Labour Decree’, on the other hand, we have put the focus back on quality collective bargaining, because that is how to truly protect workers’ rights, sector by sector, applying for the first time a principle that had remained on paper for decades: namely, that only those who pay fair wages – in other words, the total remuneration package set out in the national collective bargaining agreements signed by the most representative organisations – can access public incentives for recruitment.

I believe all this shows that, together, we have charted a new course based on cooperation and dialogue, always focusing on the substance of issues for the good of this nation’s citizens, households, and businesses.

President Mattarella, President Orsini, dear entrepreneurs,

we are undoubtedly living through a time that is far from simple. It is a time of crises following one another without respite, and of global balances changing rapidly; too many certainties that once seemed solid are crumbling before our very eyes.

And yet, within this complex scenario, there is a certainty that no one can call into question: the strength of this nation, the strength of its real economy, the solidity of its manufacturing, the character of its businesses, the skill of its workers, and the all-Italian ability to always bounce back.

It is not for me to teach you this, because you are the ones who have taught me.

When the winds blew hardest and some hoped we would lose our way, you did the exact opposite. You continued to invest, innovate, create jobs, and generate wealth. The results are clear. Italian exports are growing more than in economies that had looked down on us for years. We achieved another record yet again last year: EUR 643 billion in exports. Furthermore, in the most difficult year in transatlantic relations: +7.2% with the United States – this is just one figure I could cite to illustrate something I am very proud of. We are no longer Europe’s weak link. We are a credible and authoritative nation that is viewed with increasing respect around the world, and a nation that is growing in new, high-tech domains, from the space economy to life sciences.

However, this above all means that we can’t stop now. What I can tell you is that the Government is here and does not intend to back down a single millimetre.

We are not daunted by the weight of responsibility, and we are not afraid to prove ourselves worthy of what we are tasked with representing. This clearly does not mean ignoring the difficulties. None of us underestimate how hard these times are. However, ladies and gentlemen, there is a difference between those who allow themselves to be paralysed by fear and those who, instead, decide to tackle the challenges because they know that it is in the difficulty of those challenges that fate gives us the privilege of being proud of ourselves.

‘Sic itur ad astra’, wrote Virgil – ‘Thus is the way to the stars’.

To do so, we must not be afraid to fly high, dare, free ourselves from old encrustations, and break old habits, allowing us to focus on what we do best at the end of the day, which is to persevere, invent, bounce back.

This is why I am asking you not to fear, for a time of uncertainty is also a time for courage, and a time for courage is inevitably also a time for choices. 

Be courageous, and I promise you I will do the same. Thank you. Long live Italy!

[Courtesy translation]

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