Italy and France: rebuilding a future for the next generation in the context of COVID-19

Next Generation EU and the Green Deal: the business perspective

Rome, November 30, 2020. The third edition of the Italian-French Dialogues, an initiative promoted by Luiss Guido Carli and Sciences Po in collaboration with The European House Ambrosetti, was dedicated to building a more sustainable future for the next generation. The event, introduced by Luigi Abete, President of Luiss Business School, and Paola Severino, Vice President of Luiss Guido Carli,  hosted the leaders of some of the most important companies in Italy and France, including: Michele Crisostomo, President of Enel; Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel; Rosario Ambrosino, CEO of Elior; and Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales–CNES. They discussed the topic “Next Generation EU and the Green Deal: the business perspective.” The keynote speaker was Letizia Moratti, co-founder of the San Patrignano Foundation and President of the E4Impact Foundation, while Veronica De Romanis, Professor of European Economic Policy at Luiss Guido Carli and Stanford University in Florence, brought the event to a close.

To rebuild Europe after the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union has decided to allocate over 1.8 trillion euros for the 2021–2027 period through NextGeneration EU. This instrument was created to address the health crisis, enabling member states to implement measures aimed at creating a more sustainable, digital, and resilient planet.

Luigi Abete, President of Luiss Business School, opened the event by stating: “ The complexity of the issues facing our era means that everyone needs to prioritize every goal: in the past, a stronger state and a more robust market were enough, but today and tomorrow, we also need a stronger Europe. This is the only path to development that allows us to move forward together, with a focus on sustainability, business, employment, and the environment. Italy and France, alongside Germany, are Europe! The founding countries are the heart of Europe, and they must be the architects of an increasingly strong and integrated Europe.”

Luiss Vice President Paola Severino added: “Digitalization, sustainability, and the development of new skills are the key paths to accelerating the revitalization of the Italian economy. Given the extraordinary opportunity presented by the Recovery Fund, we cannot afford to make mistakes: we must continue to define a strategic plan for the proper use of these resources through a broad debate that includes institutions, the business community, and the worlds of academia and education, with the needs of future generations at the forefront. The Italo-French Dialogues for Europe provide a valuable opportunity for fruitful international discussion on economic issues that serve as a litmus test for Europe’s resilience.”

In her keynote speech, Letizia Moratti, co-founder of the San Patrignano Foundation and president of the E4Impact Foundation, emphasized the challenges and opportunities presented by the European Union’s ambitious plan. In particular, this plan must be accompanied by a series of reforms in Italy and France, where businesses can play a significant role and serve as a driving force for development, balancing social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

The green economy will create business opportunities and jobs as a result of the path taken toward sustainability. Therefore, we must also encourage the development of skills in educational programs that enhance our ability to more broadly interpret the rapidly changing context we are navigating. We need new tools that make the way intellectual professionals tackle business issues more effective,” said Michele Crisostomo, President of Enel.

“Even before the pandemic, it was clear that the world was moving toward a sustainable development model, with an energy transition driven by trends in digitalization and the electrification of consumption. COVID-19 allowed us to take a journey into the future and glimpse a reality that would have come about anyway. Now we have firsthand experience showing that it’s possible to decarbonize the energy sector without management difficulties. Looking back, once the pandemic is over, no one will be able to say that all of this is impossible,” said Francesco Starace, Enel’s CEO and General Manager.

But the Next Generation EU and the Green New Deal aren't just about strategies developed in the energy sector. In fact, to make Europe “climate neutral” by 2050, the European decarbonization process will also affect the way we eat. Rosario Ambrosino, CEO of Elior Italia, a leader in corporate catering, outlined the strategies his company has adopted to help achieve these European goals. He also emphasized the responsibility to promote healthy diets, as nutrition is one of the five risk factors for chronic diseases. Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the French space agency CNES, highlighted the commitments made by French companies in the sector as part of the Green Deal and outlined the various collaborations initiated with the Italian Space Agency.

Therefore, considering sustainability in these sectors, including energy, opens up new job opportunities for the younger generation.