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True or false. Has the European Union pushed Italy to change its migration policy?
True or false. Has the European Union pushed Italy to change its migration policy?
(franceinfo)
Before coming to power in Italy, Giorgia Meloni promised to put a stop to immigration, even legal. But after a few months at the head of government, the Prime Minister took the decision to issue hundreds of thousands of residence permits.
The Italian government will issue 452,000 additional residence permits by 2025 and estimates the country’s labor needs at 833,000 more immigrant workers. For François Bayrou, this is a sign that Giorgia Meloni’s migration policy, like that of the National Rally, is unrealistic. But for RN deputy Laurent Jacobelli, it was Europe that would have made him give in. “Ms. Meloni receives billions from the European Union, and the European Union can be a blackmailer”he said.
Is the European Union forcing Italy to welcome migrants? It’s wrong. The labor needs have been identified by Italy itself, as indicated in a decision of the Council of Ministers. Unions and employers are demanding more workers in plumbing, fishing, tourism and the hotel industry, without links to the European Union. “It’s realpolitik that is rarely displayed publicly because it contravenes the slogans of the electoral campaign”, explains Hervé Rayner, lecturer at the University of Lausanne. This turnaround in Italy’s migration policy is therefore due to an agreement between the government and employers’ organizations, and not to blackmail with European subsidies.
