Latest news with #Coldiretti
Bangkok Post
3 days ago
- Bangkok Post
Italy's Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists over wildfire
TERZIGNO, Italy - Italian firefighters and the army on Sunday tackled a wildfire on the flanks of Mount Vesuvius, with all hiking routes up the volcano near Naples closed to tourists. The national fire service said it had 12 teams on the ground and six Canadair planes fighting the blaze, which has torn through the national park in southern Italy since Friday. "The fire-fighting continues ceaselessly on three fronts", the Campania Region said in a statement. The army created a fire break and reinforcement firefighters were brought in from other areas of Italy, while onsite teams used drones to better monitor the spread of the fire, the region and fire service said. The park's head Raffaele de Luca said the area affected covered some 500 hectares. "For safety reasons and to facilitate firefighting and cleanup operations in the affected areas, all activities along the Vesuvius National Park trail network are suspended until further notice," the park said in a statement Saturday. Nearly 620,000 people visited the crater of the active volcano in 2024, according to the park. The smoke from the fire could be seen from the Pompeii archeological site, which was buried by Vesuvius' eruption during Roman times. The site, however, remained open to tourists. Experts say European countries are becoming ever more vulnerable to wildfires due to intensifying summer heatwaves linked to global warming. On Mount Vesuvius, "the firefighting efforts are particularly delicate due to both the weather conditions -- high temperatures and wind -- and the pine needles, which contribute to the spread of the flames," said Italo Giulivo, head of the region's civil protection department. Italy's biggest agricultural association Coldiretti said the fires were "an enormous disaster" for vineyards and farms in an area well known for its wine, apricots and tomatoes.
Euractiv
22-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
Italy's ‘Click Day' migration scheme fails businesses, critics say
ROME – A few times a year , Italy's employers switch on their computers to play what's become a high-stakes lottery called "Click Day." It's not a game. It's one of the only legal avenues for hiring non-EU migrant workers. And within minutes from launch, the quota is usually filled. 'It rewards whoever has the fastest connection or the quickest finger on the mouse,' said Mario Roberto Carraro, vice president of Confindustria Vicenza, which represents industrial and service companies in the manufacturing-heavy Veneto region. Introduced in 2011, Click Day – aka. Decreto Flussi – sets quotas for seasonal and non-seasonal jobs, including domestic care. The government's goal was to support sectors like agriculture and manufacturing. But critics say employers don't get enough workers out of the process and many hopeful migrants are left out, with few options but to work illegally. ' Only 12% of people who apply through the Decreto Flussi end up receiving a residence permit, ' Giulia Gori of Ero Straniero, a civil society campaign, told Euractiv Italy. ' The remaining 88% either never make it into the country or end up irregular". Italy's consulates – often understaffed and overwhelmed – take up to six months to process applications. By the time workers arrive, many jobs have disappeared. Without a contract, some have no grounds for a residence permit and are pushed into undeclared work. "Migrants arrive ready to work but are left without a residence permit, without protection, and at risk of exploitation," Gori added. Delays, disfunction and criminal networks Italian employers are frustrated too, particularly those in the agriculture sector. 'It's become a sterile exercise that has nothing to do with actual labour demand,' Carraro said. He added that his region of Vicenza has largely abandoned the system because it's too rigid, too slow, and too unreliable to meet industry needs. Romano Magrini, head of labour affairs at Coldiretti, Italy's main farming association, acknowledged that government crackdowns have curbed some abuses. But he also insisted that the system doesn't work for employers. Coldiretti is currently in talks with the government about a process that would allow pre-approved employers to apply year-round. 'I believe the conditions are there to start testing this in 2026,' Magrini said. Earlier this month, Click Day was expanded to admit about 500,000 workers between 2026 and 2028. For the year 2024, roughly 151,000 migrants were offered places, while employers submitted 690,000 applications. But some are unsure if the expansion will narrow that gap. 'If the strawberries are ready in April, I need workers then – not in July,' Magrini told Euractiv. 'We should let pre-approved employers submit requests anytime, staggered across the year.' Such a change, advocates argue, would also ease the strain on Italy's consulates, which are currently overwhelmed during short, high-pressure application windows. Meanwhile, criminal networks have stepped in to exploit the vacuum left by the official system. Prosecutors have uncovered organised rackets, including some linked to the Camorra, an Italian mafia group, charging migrants €2,000 to €10,000 to submit applications. In many of those cases, the promised jobs didn't exist. A political stalemate While the government has acknowledged the the system's flaws and cracks down on abuse , Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration has extended the Click Day model through 2028. ' There ' s no technical reason for not changing it, ' Gori said. ' Everything suggests it would be more efficient to switch to a staggered system. So you start wondering if the decision is political. ' Carraro agreed. He thinks the country's worsening labour shortages can't be solved by " ideological logics or tools designed for a different era". "What we need is a serious, constructive dialogue between government and businesses to develop a system that ' s more flexible, faster, and more effective. The future of our productive fabric depends on it." (cs, de,mk)
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
E.U. tariffs set to raise pasta and wine prices, threatening jobs on both sides of the Atlantic
Europe is sounding the alarm: Tariffs could soon be hitting wallets of people in the United States. The 30% tariffs on European Union imports, announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday, could be a 'death blow' to the European food industry and lead to price hikes for American consumers, the Italian winemakers association UIV said. 'The 30% tariff on wine … would be virtually an embargo on 80% of Italian wine,' the group added, according to a translated statement. Coldiretti, an association that represents European agricultural companies, said American consumers would likely face shortages or see price hikes for imported wine, cheese and pastas. And German industry association BDI called the escalation 'incomprehensible,' warning that it threatened jobs and investment worldwide. Germany is the top E.U. exporter to the U.S. Cars and other vehicles produced in the E.U. could also face increased prices. "The costs for our companies have already reached the billions—and with each passing day, the total continues to grow," the German auto trade group VDA told NBC News in a statement Monday. Those statements come after Trump sent a letter to the E.U. (and a separate one to Mexico) on Saturday threatening a blanket 30% tariff on goods shipped to the U.S. starting Aug. 1, an indication that ongoing trade negotiations have failed. After initially backing down from his 'Liberation Day' tariffs and promising trade deals with dozens of countries, Trump has steadily returned to his trade war posture, sending letters to countries around the world with ultimatums and tariff rates from 20% to 40%. President Emmanuel Macron of France, a key source of U.S. food and wine exports, said Saturday he strongly disapproved of the 30% tariff and urged the E.U. to speed up 'the preparation of credible countermeasures.' He said trading partners such as the U.S. and Europe 'owe each other' respect. In 2024, the U.S. was the top destination for E.U. exports. The top exported products from the E.U. to the U.S. last year were medical and pharmaceutical products, medicines, motor vehicles and machinery, according to Eurostat. Trump has threatened sector-specific tariffs on pharmaceutical products, although it's not clear when those might be unveiled. Ireland's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Simon Harris, one of the first E.U. leaders to react to Trump's Saturday letter, said 'there is no necessity to escalate the situation.' Harris said he planned to meet with the U.S. ambassador to Ireland on Monday to discuss the situation. Ireland is the top source of U.S. pharma imports from the E.U., and serves as the European headquarters of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Meta. Speaking in Brussels on Monday after a meeting of E.U. trade ministers, the European Commission's top trade negotiator, Maros Šefčovič, said the 30% tariff 'is absolutely unacceptable. That is the level which is absolutely prohibitive to any trade.' Last year, the total value of E.U.-U.S. trade amounted to nearly $2 trillion. Some are still expressing hope for a deal. 'The clear impression was that we were very, very close in agreement in principle,' Denmark's foreign minister said Monday after the trade ministers meeting. 'Unfortunately, it wasn't possible due to this presidential letter, but it is still our major vision that we should reach an agreement, but we also want to send signal that it must be a fair deal for everybody.' For its part, the E.U. has delayed any countermeasures — or retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. — but it currently has more than $100 billion of retaliatory tariffs on standby. Some of that retaliation targets goods and produce from politically sensitive U.S. states, such as soybeans from House Speaker Mike Johnson's home state of Louisiana or bourbon from Kentucky. Other retaliatory tariffs could target Boeing planes and U.S.-built vehicles. The American Chamber of Commerce in the E.U. said it was 'concerned' about the tariffs that it said would 'generate damaging ripple effects across all sectors of the EU and US economies.' The group added that 'tariffs disrupt supply chains and add costs and complexity for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.' Despite the major escalation, Šefčovič said that he planned to speak with his American counterparts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on Monday to keep negotiations going. This article was originally published on
The Star
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Roundup: Italy urges dialogue with U.S. as tariff hikes threaten blns in loss
ROME, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday the European Union (EU) is prepared to impose billions of euros in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods should ongoing trade negotiations between the two sides fail to produce an agreement. In an interview published Monday by Italian daily Il Messaggero, Tajani emphasized that while the EU has the tools to defend its economic interests, dialogue remains the preferred path forward. "Tariffs hurt every side, including the U.S.," he said. "If the stock market falls, that puts the pensions and savings of Americans at risk." Tajani's remarks followed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on Saturday that Washington will impose a 30 percent tariff on imports from the EU and Mexico starting Aug. 1. The move marks the latest escalation in a series of tariff policies introduced by the Trump administration, even as U.S. and European officials are still working on a trade agreement. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also voiced concern over the prospect of a transatlantic trade war, warning that such a development would harm both sides. "Our government is in close contact with the European Commission and all parties involved in the tariff negotiations," Meloni said in a statement. "A trade war within the West would make us all weaker in the face of global challenges we are addressing together. Europe has the economic strength to protect its interests and reach a fair agreement." An analysis by the Milan-based Institute for International Political Studies suggested that Italy would be among the EU countries most affected by the U.S. tariffs. Under a 30-percent duty scenario, Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) would contract by an estimated 0.5 percent compared to a no-tariff baseline, while Italy's GDP would shrink by approximately 0.36 percent. On Monday, the Association for the Development of Industry in the Mezzogiorno (SVIMEZ) released its estimate of the impact of the U.S. tariffs on Italy's exports, projecting a reduction of nearly one-fifth in export volume and a loss of 12.4 billion euros in trade once the tariffs take effect. SVIMEZ also warned of broader macroeconomic consequences, estimating a 0.5-percent reduction in Italy's GDP in 2026 and the potential loss of up to 150,000 jobs, including some 13,000 in the country's southern regions. "The repercussions would be nationwide," SVIMEZ President Luca Bianchi told Class CNBC. Italy's main agricultural organization, Coldiretti, echoed the concerns, warning that the proposed tariffs could deal "a deadly blow" to the agri-food sector. "Thirty-percent tariffs could inflict combined damages of up to 2.3 billion euros on Italian producers and U.S. consumers alike," Coldiretti said. Key agricultural exports such as cheese, wine, and processed foods would be hit hardest, the group noted. According to Coldiretti's estimates, the new duties would raise overall tariffs on Italian cheese to 45 percent, wine to 35 percent, processed tomatoes to 42 percent, stuffed pasta to 36 percent, and jams and marmalades to 42 percent. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollar)
Local Italy
01-07-2025
- Business
- Local Italy
Italy to issue close to 500,000 non-EU work visas over next three years
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government said a total of 497,550 work visas would be issued over the 2026-2028 period, starting with around 165,000 in 2026. This was up from the 450,000 visa quota set by the government for the 2023-2025 period. Meloni, the leader of Italy's Brothers of Italy party, has sought to reduce the number of undocumented migrants entering Italy. But her government has also increased pathways for legal migration for non-EU workers in a bid to tackle labour shortages in an ageing country with a sluggish birth rate. Over half (around 267,000) of the total number of visas set to be made available over the next three years would be destined for seasonal workers in the agricultural and tourism sectors, the government said. Italy's main agricultural lobby, Coldiretti, welcomed the new visa plan as an "important step forward to ensure the availability of workers in the fields [and] food production". But a top official of Italy's largest trade union, CGIL, said the new quota did not address migration dynamics and labour needs. Maria Grazia Gabrielli stressed that the number of visa applications has been far lower than the available quotas in recent years. Between 2023 and 2024, only 7.5 to 7.8 percent of the visas made available by Italy's Ministry of Labour were converted into residency permits, she said in a statement. Gabrielli criticised the government's policy of prioritising applicants from countries that discourage their nationals from illegally migrating to Italy. A 2023 decree established special immigration quotas for nations helping Italy fight human traffickers and conduct media campaigns warning of the dangers of crossing the Mediterranean. Gabrielli said the system "takes no account whatsoever of migration dynamics and the need for a response that does not focus on punitive logic and rewards". Italy's immigration policies have long been fraught with weak spots and vulnerabilities, with criminal networks known to exploit the system to bring migrants into the country illegally. Gabrielli said a structural reform was needed to help employers recruit foreign labour and protect workers from traffickers.
