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Rome, 3 June. – The guest of this episode of Ask@news EU Verified Series is Federico Pizzarotti, candidate in the next European elections for Renew Europe with Action.
Pizzarotti’s hope for the next legislature is to make the European Union a more effective institution closer to citizens. To do this, the rules would need to be changed, removing the right of veto from countries to have qualified majorities and prevent a single country from being able to block or slow down the decision-making processes. A revision of the Treaties would therefore be desirable, especially in view of the enlargement of the European Union to other countries, to have a more competitive and cohesive Europe at an international level.
Among the issues that Pizzarotti would like to deal with is Agriculture, considering that EFSA, the headquarters of the European Food Authority, is located in Parma, the city of which he was mayor. And then the theme of the relationship between Europe and cities to address complex issues such as energy efficiency and transport. In general, therefore, Pizzarotti would aim to deal with agriculture and the Green Deal in particular from an environmental point of view, evaluating the introduction of policies for the compensation of disasters due to climatic events, and more generally for the reduction of emissions.
On the topic of Agriculture, also in light of the recent protests, according to Pizzarotti we should address the issue of the composition and distribution of the funds which today mainly reward large producers and breeders and act on the value chain and on the distribution of income which today penalizes both producers and consumers.
On the topic of energy, however, a unified approach is necessary, with the aim of standardizing energy production and supplies. According to Pizzarotti, a solution could be a mix of nuclear, which guarantees a source of continuous production, and renewables, investing in research and development to exploit other natural resources, such as sea waves. As regards cars and the stop to the production of internal combustion engines from 2035, Pizzarotti hopes that there will be a review of the deadlines and incentives to replace the fleet in circulation: if in Italy, explains Pizzarotti, Euro 2 cars were replaced with Euro cars 6, there would be greater savings in terms of emissions than having a million electric cars in circulation. More generally, the theme should not be to replace the car but not to use it, especially in large cities, strengthening public transport.
Another topic addressed is health. Also in this case, according to Pizzarotti, the European Union should provide common guidelines that take into account the specificities of individual countries. As for the dogmatic approach of the European Union on products that have health consequences, such as tobacco and alcohol, according to Pizzarotti, consumers should be correctly informed, but no bans should be imposed that can generate negative phenomena such as smuggling. Rather, it would be useful to focus on alternative solutions based on the concept of harm reduction, to reduce negative effects and at the same time leave consumers freedom of choice.
Finally, on the prospects of Renew Europe in the next legislature, according to Pizzarotti it could have a role of “buffer” or glue between the EPP and the PSE for its liberal and moderate positions, carving out a central and more visible role for itself.
Click here to read the full interview in Italian and English.
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The guest of this episode of Ask@news EU Verified Series is Federico Pizzarotti, a candidate in the upcoming European elections for Renew Europe with Action.
Pizzarotti’s hope for the next legislature is to make the European Union a more effective institution closer to its citizens. To achieve this, the rules need to be changed, removing the right of veto in favor of qualified majorities to prevent a single country from blocking or slowing down decision-making processes. A revision of the Treaties would therefore be desirable, especially in view of the enlargement of the European Union to other countries, to create a more competitive and cohesive Europe at an international level.
Among the issues that Pizzarotti would like to deal with, is Agriculture, considering that in Parma, the city of which he was mayor, there is EFSA, the headquarters of the European Food Authority. And then the theme of the relationship between Europe and cities to address complex issues such as energy efficiency and transport. In general, therefore, Pizzarotti would aim to deal with agriculture and the Green Deal, in particular from an environmental point of view, evaluating the introduction of policies for the compensation of disasters due to climatic events, and more generally for the reduction of emissions.
On the topic of Agriculture, also in light of the recent protests, according to Pizzarotti we should address the issue of the composition and distribution of the funds which today reward mostly large producers and breeders and act on the value chain and on the distribution of the income which today penalizes both producers and consumers.
On the topic of energy, however, a unified approach is necessary, with the aim of standardizing energy production and supplies. According to Pizzarotti, a solution could be a mix of nuclear, which guarantees a source of continuous production, and renewables, investing in research and development to exploit other natural resources, such as sea waves. As regards to cars and the stop to the production of internal combustion engines from 2035, Pizzarotti hopes that there will be a review of the deadlines and incentives to replace the fleet in circulation: if in Italy, explains Pizzarotti, Euro 2 cars were replaced with Euro cars 6, there would be greater savings in terms of emissions than having a million electric cars in circulation. More generally, the theme should not be to replace the car but not to use it, especially in large cities, strengthening public transport.
Another topic addressed is health. Also in this case as well, according to Pizzarotti, the European Union should provide common guidelines that take into account the specificities of individual countries. Regarding the dogmatic approach of the European Union on products that have consequences on health, such as tobacco and alcohol, Pizzarotti believes that consumers should be correctly informed, but bans should not be imposed because they can generate negative phenomena such as smuggling. Instead, it would be useful to focus on alternative solutions based on the concept of harm reduction, to reduce negative effects while at the same time leaving consumers freedom of choice.
Finally, on the prospects of Renew Europe in the next legislature, according to Pizzarotti it could have a role of “buffer” between the EPP and the PSE for its liberal and moderate positions, carving out a central and more visible role for itself.
