ROMA (ITALPRESS) – As part of the intergovernmental summit between Italy and Germany, the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Mr Adolfo Urso, received at Mimit, in two different meetings, the Federal Minister of Economy and Energy of Germany, Katherina Reiche, and the Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space, Dorothee Bar.
In the first bilateral Urso and Reiche have signed two agreements: the first in the field of critical raw materials with the aim of promoting joint investment initiatives. The second agreement, also signed by Invitalia AD, Bernardo Mattarella, aims to strengthen cooperation in research, development and innovation to support partnerships between start-ups, SMEs and research institutes through their financing programmes, with the aim of developing advanced technologies, promoting internationalisation and increasing competitiveness. The initiatives will be supported, for Italian partners, with the Smart&Start Italia incentive, promoted by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy and managed by Invitalia, and for German partners, with the Innovation Programme for SMEs, managed by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany.
“With the Joint Declaration signed in December and the two agreements of today, Italy and Germany send together a clear and strong message to the European institutions: the competitiveness of the continent must be raised immediately. We can no longer afford to stand still and undergo change,” said Urso. “It is urgent to defend and promote strategic industries, from automotive to energy companies, supporting innovative industries and simplifying the regulatory landscape, so as to give certainties to investments and the industrial future of Europe,” he concluded. “Germany and Italy are strong industrial partners and central engines of the European economy. In a period characterized by deep geopolitical and economic challenges, we are stepping up our cooperation to strengthen the competitiveness, resilience and innovative capacity of Europe. It is more important than ever to strengthen existing partnerships and promote new partnerships for sustainable growth, safe jobs and strong Europe,” said Reiche.
On the front of the European Commission’s proposals on automotive and CBAM, Urso and Reiche reiterated the need to do more, stressing the importance of real technological neutrality and regulatory certainty to attract investments and support industrial development in Europe, highlighting how industry needs clear tools to plan its future. Rome and Berlin also look closely at the Industrial Accelerator Act, which the Commission should present next month, an initiative to become a key element in strengthening European competitiveness.
Aerospace cooperation was at the centre of the second bilateral that Minister Urso, as Authority delegated to the Italian Government, had with the German homologue Bar. During the meeting, Urso and Bar shared a joint statement aimed at extending the cooperation between Italy and Germany on this subject to an assessment of the possible synergies between their national satellite constellations with the aim of strengthening the security and resilience of critical infrastructures, including telecommunications, as well as secure access and transmission of satellite data, in particular those of origin and institutional use.
“Today’s understanding is an important first step to develop in harmony with other European countries, starting from Germany, satellite programmes aimed at strengthening the technological sovereignty of the continent. As president of the ESA Ministerial Council, we want to give impetus to a more solid, autonomous and able to lead the industrial innovation of the sector to effectively address the global challenges of the future,” said Minister Urso. “Germany and Italy strengthen together the European space continent: at the ESA Ministerial Conference last November we gave the Presidency to Italy. A joint venture in Italy-German successfully manages the Galileo satellites and allows a European satellite navigation sovereign. This demonstrates that without close cooperation between Germany and Italy, European sovereignty in space is not conceivable, but also in technology and research,” said Minister Bar.
With today’s understanding of Italy and Germany, respecting and symbiosis with the ongoing cooperation at European level and with the ESA programmes, they give impetus to the ASI – Italian Space Agency and the German Space Agency to deepen cooperation by evaluating, among the possible hypotheses, the feasibility of a possible joint project.
– Mimit press office photos –
(ITALPRESS).
