Te Italian government is to set up a
special 'control room' or steering committee for its much
anticipated Mattei Plan to curb migration from Africa and beat
smuggling gangs, according to a draft of the four-year plan out
Thursday.
The plan, name after late Eni founder Enrico Mattei, envisages
strategic development partnerships with countries of origin and
transit of migrants.
"To build a new partnership between Italy and the states of the
African continent", is the objective put in black and white in
the circulating draft of the Plan, a seven-article decree-law
that establishes, among other things, a special steering
committee, chaired by the Prime Minister and composed of the
Minister of Foreign Affairs (vice-president), the other
ministers, the president of the Conference of Regions and
Autonomous Provinces, government bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti
and foreign investment agency Sace.
The plan, the draft says, lasts four years and can be updated
even before its expiry date.
There is an "extraordinary need and urgency to strengthen
cooperation initiatives between Italy and states on the African
continent, in order to promote economic and social development
and prevent the root causes of irregular migration," says the
draft plan.
It emphasises the "need to include the development of
collaboration between Italy and the states of the African
continent in the broader Italian strategy of safeguarding and
promoting national security in all its dimensions, including
economic, energy, climate, food, and the fight against irregular
migration flows."
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