Italy • • • 🌿 Progressive

Giorgia Meloni, seated at a desk with the Italian and European Union flags behind her
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Her written message to the Federchimica 2026 Public Assembly defended a review of European climate policies. · Governo Italiano — Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri (CC BY 3.0)

Meloni seeks climate policy review to sustain European chemistry

In a written message to the Federchimica 2026 Public Assembly, Giorgia Meloni defended the central role of chemistry, described its deep crisis in Europe and…

--- The context --- Chemistry rarely takes the political spotlight, yet it underpins much of modern production in Italy and across Europe. Its research supplies materials and solutions used by other industries. In a written message to the 2026 Public Assembly of Federchimica, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressed its president Buzzella and the business leaders there. She regretted being unable to attend and thanked the industry for its contribution to Italy's capacity to produce, innovate and compete. --- The facts --- According to the message, chemistry makes possible the progress of the country's main production chains, because it originates materials and solutions used throughout industry. Meloni stated that 95% of the products around us would not exist without chemical research and innovation. The chains she cited include health, through active ingredients, medical devices and diagnostics, as well as agrifood, fashion and cosmetics, furniture and design, construction, mechanics and the automotive sector, electronics and energy. Behind their quality, she added, lies research and dialogue between companies innovating together. --- The positions --- Meloni described European chemistry as going through a deep crisis driven by the cost of energy, weak demand and international competition on unequal terms. In her account, the Green Deal and European policies worsened those difficulties with burdens and deadlines disconnected from sustainable alternatives, and she identified the ETS system as a knot requiring intervention. She said decarbonisation remains a goal she wants to achieve, but argued that it requires companies able to invest and research, favouring those who produce over those who use the instrument speculatively. Closing a plant in Europe only to import the same products from countries with lower standards, she warned, loses jobs and autonomy without benefiting the climate, and she pledged pressure for a review of European climate policies. --- What remains unknown --- The message sets out a political direction without specifying concrete measures or timetables for the review it demands, nor how realistic timelines, technological neutrality, sustainable energy costs and protection against lower-cost competitors would be combined in practice. --- Unanswered questions --- What concrete changes will the Government propose for the ETS system and on what timetable will they be discussed? How will a climate review keep environmental requirements credible while easing burdens on producers in Europe? What support will companies receive to invest and research? --- EPM analysis --- The significance of the message lies in a tension it acknowledges without fully resolving. Decarbonisation stays as a stated goal, yet Meloni argues that a transition designed with burdens detached from real alternatives can weaken the companies expected to finance it. Climate ambition and industrial viability cross. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, reviewing European climate policies will only make sense if the correction protects both the climate and the capacity to produce, because a decarbonisation that drives out plants and jobs without reducing global harm is not a transition but a setback. The message is right to link decarbonisation with competitiveness and to seek realistic timelines and technological neutrality, yet its strength will depend on verifiable proposals and firm environmental safeguards.
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