Italian US Relations -Tariffs: US duties on oil, wine and pasta put exports at risk

A bottle of prosecco that costs €5-6 a bottle in Italy can cost up to the equivalent of €10-15 at large retailers in the United States. With the application of 100% duty, that price would go up to €20-30. Prosecco exports

Read more at: US duties on oil, wine and pasta put exports at risk - Corriere.it

Italy: With Draghi, Italy has a chance to set aside Conte’s economic misadventures - by Jean Jacques Handali

While Conte may have been independent of his populist backers on paper, his economic policies nonetheless reflected the dirigism of the Five Stars who brought him to power. Conte took advantage of his "golden powers" to launch heavy-handed state interventions in the economy. These include a push to have Milan-based Unicredit buy the state’s share of Monte dei Paschi di Siena; the re-nationalization of failing national carrier Alitalia; the hostile takeover of toll road operator Autostrade per l’Italia; and the state’s insistence that broadband operators Telecom Italia (TIM) and Open Fiber merge into one company.

Thanks to Matteo Renzi, Conte is now leaving each of these dossiers half-finished. As Italy looks to Draghi, one of its most renowned financial minds, to lead the country out of dual financial and public health crises, one of the new premier’s first decisions will be whether to continue Conte’s statist economic policies. In both Rome and Brussels, many hope – and expect – the answer will be a simple "no".

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/02/20/with-draghi-italy-has-a-chance-to-set-aside-conte-s-economic-misadventures-view

EU Economy: Italy to spend 222 billion euros of EU funds to revive economy

Italy plans to spend more than €222 billion from various European Union funds to revive its coronavirus-battered economy, a draft government document seen by Reuters showed on Thursday (7 January).

Rome is entitled to more than €200 billion from a European emergency programme designed to help those EU nations hardest hit by the coronavirus.

The €222 billion scheme includes resources from the emergency fund and other European programmes, including an agricultural fund, the document showed.

The plan still needs to be approved by the cabinet which will likely meet before f end of this week, according to government sources.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is facing internal opposition from former premier Matteo Renzi, whose centrist Italia Viva party polls at no more than around 3% but is crucial for the government’s survival. Italian government totters as Conte, Renzi divide deepens.

Read more at: Italy to spend 222 billion euros of EU funds to revive economy – EURACTIV.com

Italy's tourism industry braces for 'worst revenue slump in over 20 years'

The country, which welcomed over 60 million foreign tourists in 2018, according to the World Tourism Organization, is now expecting 56 million fewer overnight stays, according to a new survey from Florence's Centrefor Tourism Studies.

Read more at:
Italy's tourism industry braces for 'worst revenue slump in over 20 years' - The Local

Corona Virus Vaccine: EU nations sign deal for coronavirus vaccine

Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands signed an initial deal with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for over 300 million doses of a promising coronavirus vaccine currently still in the experimental phase, Germany's health ministry confirmed Saturday.

Doses of the vaccine would be distributed to countries relative to their population as soon as it is ready, the ministry said, adding that all EU members can participate in the program.

The vaccine is expected to be finished by the end of 2020. 

 

Read more at: 
EU nations sign deal for coronavirus vaccine | News | DW | 13.06.2020

Spain, France ease coronavirus restrictions

Spain and France both took steps Monday to loosen the tight restrictions that the countries imposed to try to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Seville, Spain, waiters in face masks served coffees and "bocadillo" sandwiches at café terraces as parts of the country eased restrictions while the number of new fatalities dropped to a near two-month low.

Read more at: Spain, France ease coronavirus restrictions | CBC News

Italian Economy: Venice slowly comes back to life under local 'soft lockdown' rules

Read more at:
Venice slowly comes back to life under local 'soft lockdown' rules - The Local

EU Poll: Most Italians want to remain part of the European Union, poll finds

The majority of Italians would like to keep their EU membership, but half are also yearning for a "strongman" leader, according to the latest national Censis poll.

Read more at:
https://www.thelocal.it/20191206/most-italians-want-to-be-part-of-the-european-union-poll-finds

Italy: Venice flooded again 3 days after near-record high tide

Exceptionally high tidal waters returned to Venice on Friday, prompting the mayor to close the iconic St. Mark's Square and call for donations to repair the Italian lagoon city just three days after it experienced its worst flooding in 50 years.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venice-flood-tide-st-mark-s-square-1.5360583

Auto Industry: Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot expected to sign binding merger deal as soon as early-December: source

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA aim to sign a final merger agreement as early as the beginning of next month, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Read more at:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fiat-chrysler-m-a-psa-timing/fiat-chrysler-and-peugeot-expected-to-sign-binding-merger-deal-as-soon-as-early-december-source-idUKKBN1XC0A0

Italian-US relations:Trump slaps extra tariffs on Italian cheese but not wine

Read more at:
https://www.thelocal.it/20191003/trump-slaps-extra-tariffs-on-italian-cheese-but-not-wine

Auto Industry; Merger between.Fiat Chrysler and Renault

Renault and Fiat Chrysler to announce merger talks: sources French and Italian-US auto giants Renault and Fiat Chrysler are set to announce talks on an alliance, with a view to a potential merger, informed sources said on Sunday.

Read more at: 
http://www.france24.com/en/20190526-renault-fiat-chrysler-announce-merger-sources-france

EU Economy: Italy, Germany Drag on Euro-Area Economy as EU Cuts Outlook - by Viktoria Dendrinou

The European Commission slashed its growth forecasts for all the euro region’s major economies from Germany to Italy and warned that Brexit and the slowdown in China threaten to make the outlook even worse.

The European Union’s executive arm delivered a downbeat report on Thursday that shaved a whole percentage point off its 2019 projection for Italy, now seen with minimal expansion of just 0.2 percent for the whole year. Officials in Brussels warned that the region’s outlook faces “substantial” risks.

The gloomier forecasts reflect more pronounced weakness in the region, which stumbled at the end of 2018 as political instability continued to rock Italy, violent protests in France depressed output, and Germany’s car industry struggled to rebound from changes in regulation. Global trade uncertainty and a sharper-than-expected slowdown in China also pose external risks to the economic outlook.

Read more at: Italy, Germany Drag on Euro-Area Economy as EU Cuts Outlook - Bloomberg

Italy: Venice introduces entry fee for tourists to increase income for City upkeep

Venice starts charging tourist fees to pay 
for increasing cost city maintenance

The legendary northern Italian city of Venice moved closer to cementing its status as an open-air museum than a functioning urban landscape with permanent residents after it introduced a programme where visitors to the city must now be issued a ticket to visit.

Beginning on May 25 the visitors of the city of canals will begin paying a €3 entry fee, which will later rise to €6 in 2020.

The Venetian government eventually plans to create a variable entry fee ranging from €3-to-€10 depending on the number of tourists in the city. Visitors who attempt to avoid paying the entry fee will face a stiff €450 municipal fine.

The plan is to exempt hotel guests, as they already pay a city tax, and children under the age of 6,

Over the past decade, Venice has been so inundated with tourists that local residents have had difficulty coping with the increasing crowds and sky-high property prices that continue to climb. Local residents that have lived in Venice for generations have been forced to leave the city as scores of cruise ship visitors and day=trippers have effectively taken over.

An estimated 14 million tourists visit Venice just for a day, which brings little-to-no benefit to the local economy. Instead, tourism burden local authorities are left with excessive costs for the cleaning and maintenance of the city’s centuries-old infrastructure.

Read more: Venice introduces entry fee for tourists

EU Economy: British economic growth tipped to be slowest in Europe next year, but rest of European Economies also slowing down - by Richard Partington

The euro area of 19 countries including Germany, France and Italy is forecast to slow from a growth rate of 2.1% this year to 1.9% in 2019 and 1.7% in 2020, as the wider region enters a period of weaker growth following the strongest year of the past decade in 2017.

It comes as the wider global economy is unsettled by Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China and Europe, which have reduced demand for manufactured goods and stifled business investment.

Despite the weaker outlook for the British economy, growth figures have shown Britain managing a better performance than the eurozone over recent quarters.

Statistics due on Friday are expected to show UK economic growth of 0.6% for the third quarter. Economists at HSBC believe Germany is likely to record its first drop in quarterly economic output, of 0.1%, for more than three years.

In the IMF’s latest health check on the region, it warned the European economy would probably run into turbulence in the next few years.

The Washington-based fund said all likely Brexit outcomes would have a negative cost for the economy, although it warned a no-deal scenario would have the biggest downsides.

“No-deal Brexit would lead to high trade and non-trade barriers between the UK and the rest of the EU, with negative consequences for growth,” it said.

The IMF also warned the populist Italian government to tackle its high levels of government borrowing before time runs out.

Read more: British economic growth tipped to be slowest in Europe next year | Business | The Guardian

Global Currencies: Wall Street’s bet on global currencies is bloodied with the U.S. dollar soaring - by Luke Kawa and Sid Verma

Politics have foiled the best-laid plans of Wall Street’s currency strategists.

Turmoil in Turkey as well as strife between Italian leaders and the European Union have forced dollar bears to throw in the towel on bets that the rest of the world’s currencies would continue to play catch-up with the greenback in 2018. A continued flight to safety propelled the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index to a 13-month high on Monday.

The advance prompted TD Securities to close the G10 foreign exchange convergence trade recommended in its 2018 outlook after losses of more than 4 per cent. The team targeted 10-per-cent upside in going long the euro, Swedish krona, and New Zealand dollar relative to the U.S. and Swiss currencies. In early Tuesday trading, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index eased 0.2 per cent.

“The soft patch in global growth and the emergence of Italian political tumult curtailed this thesis even though the ECB signaled the end of QE this year,” writes Mazen Issa, TD’s senior foreign-exchange strategist.

Read more: Wall Street’s bet on global currencies is bloodied with the U.S. dollar soaring - The Globe and Mail

Italy: Trump Tariffs - Italy retaliates, as Italy says it won't buy any more F-35's from the US

Italy says it won't buy more F-35 fighter jets, and may even cut its current order

Read more at:

http://flip.it/GaHezU

USA -NATO:: Trump sends sharply worded letter to NATO leaders to pay more or else

Note EU-Digest: Trump says he is losing his patience with NATO allies, whom he finds should be paying more for the upkeep of NATO. 

Why don't his NATO Allies finally get the guts to tell this narcissist to go to hell, and have him pay for his own disastrous military adventures around the world.  Fortunately there has been a good counter-move by Europe, which is presently setting up their own united military defense force, combining all the EU Nations military forces into one.

For the complete report click on link below

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-sends-sharply-worded-letters-nato-leaders-says-he-losing-patience-1005779?spMailingID=3670208&spUserID=MTI0NzM2NDgxNDcS1&spJobID=1070120163&spReportId=MTA3MDEyMDE2MwS2

EU in the danger zone: The United States and Russia Target Germany - by Judy Dempsey

Europe is not in good shape.

Italy now has a government of leftist and rightist populists in power. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is telling the opposition party in Macedonia to reject a proposed deal between Skopje and Athens to resolve the dispute over Macedonia’s name.

Forget the fact that an end to this conflict would fill one of the security vacuums in this part of the Western Balkans, which should enhance European security. Macedonia could join NATO which Greece, until now, had vetoed because of the name issue.

More worrying, is that what is taking place in Europe today is, unwittingly, a collusion of interests between the Trump administration and the Kremlin.

These interests are about dividing the EU. In the case of the United States, these policies undermine the transatlantic alliance and weaken the West’s projection of its values. But above all, these interests are about undermining Germany, and in particular Angela Merkel, who has been chancellor of Europe’s biggest economy since 2005.

So why are Russia and the Trump administration targeting Merkel?

Let’s take Russia.

Once she became chancellor in late 2005, Merkel slowly chiseled away at the policies of her Social Democrat predecessor Gerhard Schröder. The former German chancellor had established very close links with Putin, even referring to him as “an impeccable democrat.” 

Merkel was having none of that. She reached out to Russia’s civil society activists. She spoke her mind with Putin. By the time the Russian president had illegally annexed Crimea in March 2014, Merkel knew where she stood with him.

Putin underestimated Merkel’s ability to get all EU member states on board to impose sanctions on Russia. Yet she did it. That weakened, to a big degree, the pro-Russia wings in Germany’s Social Democratic Party. The party’s “Ostpolitik”—or eastern policy that was based on rapprochement with Russia—was put on hold. So far, that Merkel line has held.

It hasn’t been easy. Both Germany’s pro-Russian Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and Italy’s new government want to end the sanctions on Russia. There were similar calls to lift the sanctions during Putin’s fulsome welcome by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna on June 5.

Putin is intent on dividing the EU, which means undermining Merkel’s authority. Needless to say, he denied that during an interview with Austria’s public TV channel ORF: “We do not pursue the objective of dividing anything or anyone in the EU,” he said.

As for Trump, his policies are far more dangerous because, for the first time since World War II, the leader of the West is trying to isolate and undermine Germany. That means weakening Europe and the alliance.

This goes against the strategic policies of every, successive American administration since 1945. Policies that have been unflinchingly committed to building a Western, and later united, Europe anchored on the Franco-German alliance and “embedded” in what is today’s European Union.

Yes, there were big differences and quarrels over the deployment of U.S. Pershing missiles in West Germany in the 1980s and later the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The point is that the alliance and the EU managed to hold together. So why are Trump and his emissaries now trying to do the opposite?

One reason is that Trump sees allies not based on values but based on short-term American interests in which allies are chosen at random. Yet slapping protectionist trade measures on key allies such as Mexico, Canada, and Europe on the spurious grounds of national security begs the question why the United States should be doing business with non-democratic or authoritarian countries such as Egypt or China. Do they enhance America’s security?

Second, Trump’s attack on Europe is not just about trade and spending more on defense—issues that the U.S. president will no doubt raise at next month’s NATO summit in Brussels. It is about Germany. Or rather it is about Angela Merkel.

Merkel has refused to pander to Trump since the day he was elected. She stood up to him on trade and climate change issues during the 2017 G20 and G7 meetings. She endured humiliation when he gave her limited time during her recent visit to Washington in April. And all the while, Trump’s new ambassador to Berlin, Richard Grenell, has spoken about “empowering anti-establishment European leaders.”

Merkel, for the moment, has wisely shrugged off Grenell’s statements and interviews by leaving it to others to respond. But what Merkel cannot shrug off is how the American administration is singling out Germany for its trade surplus, for its car exports to the United States (forget the fact that the German car industry combined has created 110,000 jobs in America), for its refugee policy, and for its policy toward Russia. In short, for its status in Europe.

It’s as if the United States was trying to set other EU countries against Germany, especially given Berlin’s anti-austerity policies in dealing with indebted eurozone countries. All the more reason for EU heads of state and government to rally behind a leader that has shown some spunk when it comes to dealing with Putin, refugees, and Trump. And for keeping the EU together.

Read more: The United States and Russia Target Germany - Carnegie Europe - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Italian elections: Eurosceptic Italy in race to form majority government - by Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Daniel Boffey

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The two populist parties that won major upsets in the Italian election – the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League (La Liga) – are in a race to be the first to try to form a majority government after the election produced a hung parliament.

The decision will ultimately fall to Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, who could take weeks to determine whether the anti-establishment M5S, which took 32.6% of the vote, or a fragile centre-right alliance led by the League’s bombastic Matteo Salvini, with 35.7% of the vote, are better equipped to create a majority government.

As Italy and Europe digested the news on Monday that a majority of Italian voters had supported Eurosceptic candidates in the national election, both sides began jockeying for position, saying each had earned the right to lead. The Italian constitution gives Mattarella the power to give the mandate to any party, regardless of who has won the most votes.

While the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had been seen as leading the centre-right coalition, results showed he was beaten by his younger rival on the right, following a campaign in which Salvini emphasised support for radical immigration policies, including mass deportations of immigrants who are in Italy illegally.

Read more: Eurosceptic Italy in race to form majority government | World news | The Guardian