Italian PM calls for fresh G7 focus on ‘free market and free trade’

Paolo Gentiloni, the Italian prime minister, said that “we must bet again on the free market and free trade, the greatest economic engine in history.”

Speaking at a business summit in Rome, Mr Gentiloni said that the Group of Seven (G7) in Taormina in May will have to “also adopt a stance towards underlying choices that do not tolerate ambiguity: we must renew the faith in the open economy and open societies on which we have built decades of prosperity.”

“The latest generation agreements, such as the Ceta trade deal between the EU and Canada, are a partial example from where we can start again”, Mr Gentiloni said.

He also noted that we are not going towards “a G0 era, where nations are only concentrated on their exclusive interests”, because “joint efforts of governance are positive for everyone, and are positive now”.

“Free trade is not a zero-sum game, but must have a win-win effect for consumers and workers, and at the same time it must have more ambitious goals” with respect to “social rights, environmental regulations and food safety.”