First reactions of the press in Germany on Draghi’s programmatic speech in Parliament
Mario Draghi has only one shot to fire to be able to do what 17 governments since the beginning of the so-called Second Republic have failed to do: to restore Italy to growth. And the sense of a comment published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by Tobias Piller, long-time correspondent from Rome for the most authoritative German newspaper and some time ago a frequent guest on Italian talk shows interpreting the role of the German hawk. The economy must “finally show visible signs” of growth, otherwise in the space of one or two years the country will find itself facing a new credibility crisis with the burden of a debt oscillating between 150 and 160% of the domestic product gross.
The Faz does not comply with the general climate of optimism with which most of the German press accompanied the journey of the former president of the European Central Bank towards Palazzo Chigi, not so much out of distrust towards him, but due to the structural condition of the country and for the quality of its political class, which remains at the base of the new government. In fact, the Frankfurt newspaper prefers to highlight what it believes are the obstacles in the way of the Italian economic recovery: “the inefficient administration, slow and unpredictable justice, insufficient school preparation, vocational training often existing only on paper, the constant emigration of young people more qualified and in addition the lacking infrastructures or the offer of the tourism sector,
In Draghi’s program there are more or less all of these problems, acknowledges the Faz: “The new prime minister is right in wanting to tackle many dysfunctions at the same time, after all, one problem always blocks the elimination of the other”. But the will impacts on skepticism: “Draghi’s plan to bring his country on a path of growth through many determined reforms involves a political risk. For many years, Italy’s economic policy has been characterized by often empty rhetoric, accompanied by substantial stagnation. Professional politicians were not interested in real change, because it carries political costs associated with the abolition of inherited inheritances. the increased competition, which Italy desperately needs, also creates uncertainty and many losers ”.
According to Frankfurter, everything hinges on the reforms that the country has long needed, but hasn’t wanted to do for some time: “Until now, many Italians also wanted to keep the existing one with all their strength, as long as there was even a small advantage associated with it. Nobody believes there will be justice in the redistribution of opportunities and benefits. This is why in Italy there is too little trust in the state and in politics “. Expectations are therefore not very high for the success of Draghi’s articulated program: “It would already be an effort worthy of Hercules to overcome some of the deeply rooted problems”. For the Faz, the prime minister will face a race against time, in which he must immediately demonstrate that he possesses and knows how to implement the right recipes. “Draghi will undoubtedly also show strength and consistency in presenting his government program”, concludes Piller, “but he has only one shot available. In short, he has to show that his reforms offer him prospects for recovery. He otherwise he will prevail again the short-sighted gaze of the navel of Roman politics, with party politicians who do not (want) to understand the danger that Italy is running “.
The tone of the other great German national newspaper, the Suddeutsche Zeitung, is different. Starting from the title of the article dedicated today to Italy, with the biblical title “Salvatore, help”. The savior and Mario Draghi. “When nothing works anymore, the Italians force what they have best to return to the service of the country. And Mario Draghi is the best of all the best, even according to those few who in the end will not vote him as prime minister “. The article, more than an analysis, is a reportage in the moods of Italy that awaits the new president like a Messiah. Other technicians are called up (names not all very good wishes) who in the last three decades have helped the politics in difficulty, from Carlo Azeglio Ciampi to Lamberto Dini, up to Mario Monti, to always face the same triptych of emergencies: accounts, money, debts. “Abroad it may seem like a defeat for democracy, a failure of the political class, and of course it is,” writes the SZ, “but all is well in an emergency, and how great the need is this time will probably only be recognized. when the pandemic is over and the destruction becomes visible, the devastation of the economy, the bleeding of society ”.
The article also continues a bit on the wave of cliches, jumps between comedy and melodrama, tells the political conversions of populists of all colors (anti-elite movements now supporters of a symbol of the establishment, anti-Europeanists transformed into Euro- enthusiastic) cites a survey that reports 62% of votes for Draghi, which traces his career in the temples of economics and finance and also the ferocious criticism of part of the German press at the time of the ECB: “Count Draghila”.
Despite the different tones compared to the Faz, even the Munich newspaper basically thinks that Draghi will be able to succeed only if he somehow corner the Roman political world, even if not blatantly: “Draghi has always had the impression of knowing with precisely what there is to do, as if he were hovering over the theater (of politics) that he presides over today “. In Rome it is already taken for granted that Draghi will last a year, rewrite the Recovery Plan, implement some reforms, make his role weigh in Brussels and then allow himself to be elected head of state by parliament, concludes the SZ, but he, Draghi , he says nothing and nothing can be understood from his silences. It is in this diversity of his that the key to his government’s success may lie.
